SameCedes
by mangoblogs
Summary: This is a Samcedes AU story. Mercedes meets Sam and he falls for her in one day. Unfortunately the next day, she completely forgets who he is until one day he bumps into her and has to pretend they never met.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey I know most of you are like uh what the hell Mango? Where is the next chapter of Take My Breath? Where the continuation of The Game? What is this new shit? Thought you were done...when am I ever done? Anyway, don't worry I will be updating Take My Breath soon. The Game...that I don't know lol...I was on my way home and this story popped in my head SameCedes. I hope you all like it. If not oh well I tried lol. Leave me a review why don't ya**

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Sam stared at the clock that hung on the wall of the gym. His newest client was late and he was getting frustrated by the minute. He looked at his phone, waiting for a text message or a call from her but instead he received a text from his roommate. He was ready to type that he was on his way back when his phone began to ring. She was finally calling. If she was trying to make a good impression, she ruined that and he planned on making her pay for it in miles.

"You're late!" he barked into the phone.

"I know…I know…it wasn't my fault. Traffic was hectic and you wouldn't believe…"

"You're right! I won't believe." Sam said cutting her off as he began to stretch.

"Look, I said I'm sorry."

"No…you gave excuses…"

"Chill…I'm already on my way." She cut him back and chuckled. Sam stared at his phone, wondering who the hell did she think she was. He was a very busy guy and she was taking him for some joke.

"You're probably still in your car as we speak." Sam said as he stood, facing the door, he tried to figure out which car she'd come out of. From her voice he couldn't tell what she would look like but his eyes still jumped from car to car as he tried to figure it out.

"If I was still in my car I wouldn't be able to see that big ass wedgie you got squeezed between that tight ass of yours." She replied and laughed to the point that he realized that she was standing behind him. He turned to see her sporting the widest grin he'd ever seen. It was almost like her eyes twinkled as she continued to giggle then extended her hand to him as she hung up the phone. "Hi I'm Mercedes…you must be Sam, my new trainer, right?" Sam reached for her hand and placed his phone in his pocket then forced a smile on his face.

"Yes I am your trainer and when I'm done with you, your ass will be just as tight as mine."

"Oh honey, I don't know if I can do that. Mama need something soft for daddy to rub at night." She replied with a giggle and a smack to her ass. He tried not to look at her ass but when she smacked it the smack caused it to jiggle. He shook his focus back and looked around the room. Sam wasn't sure how to receive her at this moment. From the things that she said and the way she laughed and made a joke out of everything, he was worried that she'd lose focus soon.

"You know what, how about we get some stretching done then get you on the treadmill to get your heartrate going."

"Whatever you say zaddy." She replied with another giggle. Sam sighed then showed her how to properly stretch before guiding her to the machine. He mentally told himself that he was going to work that smile and giggle right off her face by the end of the evening.

He had her walk a mile on the treadmill, then another mile on the stairmaster but she was still smiling and making jokes through it all. Finally, he got her to the mat and made her plank for a minute. That was when she finally cracked. She finally lost the smile and the quirky sassy comments.

"This is some bullshit." She complained five seconds in and laid flat on the mat. "Do I look like I can plank after you just made me die on the treadmill and stairmaster?"

"Get up, Mercedes!" Sam barked. She looked up at him and rolled her eyes. "You have five seconds to get up or I will add another minute to the plank."

"I don't give a damn. Add five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes…hell add an hour. I ain't doing it!" she replied as she sat up and faced him. "You must be out of your mind thinking you can talk to me this way. I don't need this. I don't!" she continued as she tried to get up. Sam shook his head and extended his hand to her to help her up but she slapped it away. "I don't need your help!"

"Alright then, Mercedes, quit!" Sam responded and immediately regret it as a tear started to fall from her eyes. He wasn't sure what the hell was going on. It was like he was being punk'd or something. He looked around as other patrons stared at them and looked at him as if he did her wrong. And if he was honest, he had to admit that he did. He was trying to push her from the moment they started. He took it too far and now she was crying. "Look…Mercedes…" he said as he stepped closer to her. "I'm sorry, you gotta trust that I know what I am doing."

"Trust?"

"Yes. You hired me because I am the best at what I do and came highly recommended…"

"I found your number on a bulletin board…" Mercedes mumbled as she wiped her tears away. Sam ignored what she said and continued.

"I know what I am doing and will not make you do what you cannot physically do, okay?" he asked as slumped down a bit to look at her. "You can't give up. I know you can do this." She looked up at him and stared into his eyes for a minute then a smile spread across her face again. "There she goes." Sam said as the corner of his lips curved up into a smirk.

"My mother said that to me as well." She added as she nodded to herself. "I promised her that I would do this so I will do this." She announced proudly. Sam nodded with a smile as he reached for some dumbbells and handed them to her.

"She should come root you on as you workout for motivation."

"I believe she's watching and rooting for me right now." She responded with another genuine smile. Sam hesitated as he realized that would mean that she wasn't alive. As he was preparing to apologize she smiled even harder. "Don't even think about saying sorry. You had no idea." Sam demonstrated what he wanted to do with the dumbbells as he tried to find what to say next.

"Uh…do you mind me asking what happened?" Sam asked as she began to lift the dumbbells over her head and then down to her toes as he instructed.

"It's been a year now since it all happened. I lost almost everything and everyone. I even almost lost my life." She paused and looked over at Sam then set the dumbbells down. "My family used to take trip down to Florida every year, like a reunion type thing you know." She smiled as if it replayed in front of her. "And last year I decided to take two of my best friends with me. My mother was driving and had a stroke at the wheel which caused the accident. My mother was in a coma for a few months before she passed away and I was in mine for a few weeks. I had to get a physical therapist…hell for a couple days they said I didn't even remember my own name. But when I was good I promised her I'd get a trainer and workout." She paused without saying another word as she stared off into nothing. Sam reached over and covered her small hands with his and gave it a squeeze causing her to look to him and smile again.

"You lost everything but still manage to smile. I wish I could be that strong." He responded with awe. His first impression of her was that she took like as a joke, but he had no idea what she held inside.

"I'm enjoying my second chance at life and grateful for each minute." She bent down for the dumbbells again but he stopped her and grabbed them.

"I think we're done for the day." He placed the dumbbells back on the shelf and then turned to smile at her. "How about I take you out to eat? My treat, in celebration of your recovery and what you've accomplished in a year." He waited for her to respond then made a fist bump when she nodded yes.

"You ain't gotta tell me twice. Let me shower first and I'll meet you outside." Mercedes smiled then walked off to the showers. Sam shook his head as he watched her walk away then made his way to the men's locker room to shower as well.

After they both showered they met at the front of the gym as promised. Following behind him in her car, Sam made sure he took her to nice little bistro he knew they could enjoy without ruining the workout from earlier. They laughed and talked about each other's lives and he found out more about her. He was shocked to learn that she was a librarian, something she did part time just to get out of the house. She also explained that her mother left her enough money that she really didn't even need to work. But after losing everyone she knew she admitted she needed to get out. Sam found himself admiring her more and more as she told him about her life. Before he knew what was happening she had invited him to her place to watch a movie and he'd accepted the invitation. They were only minutes into the movie before Mercedes had pounced all over Sam.

He never expected things to escalate like this. Not with her. Not like this. Not after how they first started off. Yet, here he was grabbing the same ass that she joked about being soft enough for daddy. He finally realized he was the daddy in the scenario. She rubbed her nose on his as she placed soft kisses on his lips then stood up to take her shirt and bra off. She covered her ample breast as much as she could with one arm then extended the other to him. Sam stared at her in amazement as he softly took her hand and followed into the room.

In that room, he found himself discovering every part of her. He kissed her scars that she had near her temple, down to her clavicle and paused as he noticed a bigger scar near her ribs. She tried to cover it but he pushed her hand away and touched soft before placing kisses on it and watching her close her eyes. That night they had sex in so many different ways that you would have thought this wasn't their first time. Their bodies meshed as if they had been longing to mesh for years. Each time they were close to reaching their peak, Mercedes would get on top and finish it off then falling onto his chest. After what felt like seven rounds, she finally rolled over and fell asleep. Sam dozed off minute later, only waking to the sound of his cellphone ringing. He grabbed the phone and grunted when his roommate asked him to help because he locked himself out again. Sam pulled his pants and tried to dress as quietly as he could to not wake her but then the phone rang again with another text message that woke her right on up.

"You're leaving?" she asked as she pulled the covers over her body and looked at him as he scrambled around the room for his clothing.

"Um…yeah…my uh…roommate…he uh…locked himself out of the apartment." He responded then stopped when he noticed her facial expression. "I am serious…look." He said as he pulled out his cellphone and showed her the text message. She pretended not to read them but he could tell she was satisfied a bit by seeing them. "Trust me, if it wasn't an emergency nothing could tear me away from what I just experienced." Sam added before plopping a couple kisses on her lips. She kissed him back then held on a couple seconds then pushed him away.

"Go before he becomes homeless." She smiled and waved as he scurried out of the room.

"I will call you. Promise." Sam said before walking out the door. Mercedes walked out to lock the door then made her way back to her room and dropped down on her bed.

"Eeeek!" she shrieked into her pillow. "God he was fine!" she said to herself before dozing off again in the spot she laid.

The next day, Mercedes woke up sore in every part of her body. Every nook and cranny was in pain as she tried to get out of bed for work. She looked at the clock and realized that she was late, yet again. And she was more than likely going to hear it from her boss. But first, she needed to get off the bed. She tried to make it to the bathroom but her body felt as if it had been hit by a bus.

"What the hell happened in my dream to make my body this weak?" she asked as herself as she finally made it to the bathroom. She flicked on the light then looked in the mirror and almost fainted when she noticed red marks on her neck. "Where the hell did these come from?" she asked as she tried to look closer. "These mosquito bites are getting worse and worse." She jumped in the shower and cleaned up as quickly as she could as she tried to hurry up and make it to work. "Geez Louise, I need to hide these bite marks before I get sent home for some crazy virus." She muttered to herself. She quickly wrapped a scarf around her neck, grabbed her keys, cellphone and jumped out the door. Just as she made it to her car, she received a text message.

"Good morning beautiful. I called you a couple times last night but you didn't answer. Guess you were tired. Look forward to hearing from you later. Sam." Mercedes looked at the text and shook her head before deleting the message. Ever since she'd gotten that new number she was always getting those same messages and had no idea why they continued to text.

"I really wished that girl would give out another fake number instead of mine." She said outloud before blocking his number and making her way to work.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone...I updated two stories in one day...whaaaaaat? Anyway, I wanna say thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing this new little crazy story of mine. I really did NOT think you guys would like it or even get it. But then the reviews kept coming in and I was just shocked. All the reviews were like what the hell is goin on lol? I knew I would confuse you all and it might continue to get confusing lol**

 **I enjoyed all the predictions...Most of you thought of 50 first dates...that would have been a really cute story...but this is not exactly like it. Someone said Nervous...I love that book by the way...but not exactly...this story was actually inspired by a song...can you guys guess which song? Leave your answer in the reviews and if you're right I will reply in the next update.**

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Mercedes tried to drive as fast as she could to make it to work on time even though she was already thirty minutes late. No matter what she did she was always late to every damn thing. She just knew that her boss was going to give her hell the moment she walked into the library. He gave her hell every day and every time she was late he would threaten to fire her. She didn't need the job but she loved it and she didn't not want to lose it. She finally made it to the library parking lot and drove around back to park in the employee section. Her space was taken so she pulled up behind it, making a mental note that she would move it once she clocked in. She was in such a hurry to rush in that she forgot to put the car in park. As she tried to move fast, even while still store for no apparent reason, she missed seeing the car slowly move backwards towards the libraries dumpster.

"I hope you know that you are late again this week, Mercedes!" her boss said as she tried to creep passed his office. She slowly stepped back and looked inside of his office preparing to tell a lie. "And don't even try to bring up some lie. I am not interested." he added without even looking up.

"But Mr. Figgins, I have a legitimate..."

"It really doesn't matter." Figgins said as he finally looked at her with a sly smile that told her it wasn't genuine at all. He got up from his desk and walked out of his office as she followed closely behind, wincing with every step she took. "Your lies are no longer necessary as you no longer work here. We've already hired your replacement."

"What?" Mercedes asked in shock. He'd threatened many times before but who in their right mind wanted this job. It didn't pay well and the only reason she enjoyed it was it allowed her to speak to people she normally wouldn't have the guts to. "Mr. Figgins, you can't be serious. I really need this job."

"Mercedes..." he stressed her name as he always did. "You don't _need_ this job. You certainly don't treat it like something you need. You come here hours late and some days you don't even come in at all. This is a place of business. As you can see we have customers. We can't wait for you all day. So go home, 't make me have to get security, it's not in the budget." he gave a quick pat on the back then walked off leaving her standing in the middle of the library like a lost puppy. She couldn't believe he would do this to her. She never missed a work day, sure she was late, but never had she missed a day. Mercedes stared at the replacement as she read a book to the children. She felt tears forming in her eyes as she found the courage to turn and head back to her car. When she reached outside she noticed a cop looking on as a tow truck driver hooked her car to his. She ran over to where they were and couldn't believe that her car had hit the dumpster. She could've sworn she'd place the car in park. The cop saw her standing in shock and made his way over to her with his pen and tickets in hand.

"Excuse me, ma'am, is this your vehicle?" he asked her as he began to flip his ticket book to a new page. Mercedes looked around and shook her head. "We're going to have to take it in. Can we see your license, insurance and registration?"

"It's in the car." she muttered as tears began to stream down her face. "Why is my world falling apart? I just lost my job and now my car...why is this happening to me?" she blubbered. The cop sighed as he looked at her then shook his head and crumbled the ticket.

"Look, call this number and make sure you get their dumpster fixed or else I will have to give you a ticket. Okay?" he handed her the tow truck card and then walked off as the tow truck drove away. Mercedes slumped down and sat on the sidewalk placing her head on her knees as she cried. Minutes later she saw someone stick a tissue in front of her and waved it.

"Are you going to be okay?" the person asked as Mercedes took the tissue and looked at it suspiciously. She looked up at the man and shrugged. "It's just a tissue. I'm not a serial killer or nothing." Mercedes looked at the tissue again then wiped the corner of her eyes before staring up at the tall Asian man.

"That's what all serial killers say." she responded as he sat down next to her and let out a hearty chuckle. "Did I invite this man to sit next to me?" she asked herself as she slid down a bit.

"You're right but after hearing you just lost your job and then your car, it just seems like you're somebody that could use a friend at the moment. Am I wrong?" he asked as he looked over at her. She looked back at him and silently prayed he wasn't a serial killer because he was surely one good looking ass Asian man.

"Stop being scared of everything, Mercedes! Have some damn fun in your life for once." she told herself as she allowed herself to shake her head in response to his question. "Hi, I'm Mercedes...Mercedes Jones." she smiled and slowly extended her hand to him. "Ouch!" she mumbled as he shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Mercedes, I'm Mike Chang. You seem to be in pain physically as well as emotionally. Do you need to see a doctor by any chance?" he asked as she struggled to stand up. He quickly stood up and gave her a hand causing her to lean on him for support.

"I woke up this morning sore. Every part of me is hurting." she replied.

"Hmmm maybe it's time for a new bed perhaps?"

"I just bought it a few months ago."

"Well I am not sure what could cause you to be in pain like this but I do have good news." he replied as she let go of his hand and supported herself. "I'm a massage therapist, so I can help soothe the pain. That's if you're okay with that." Mercedes looked at him and bit her bottom lip as she contemplated what he was asking. "I'mean, that's only if you want me to help you." he added as she took a deep breath in and smiled.

"A massage would be nice. How much do you charge?"

"The first thirty minutes are free and then you can decide what you think I deserve." Mike replied. She couldn't believe she was actually going to let a perfect stranger give her a massage. Hell it was time that she lived a little.

"Well, I do need a ride home since my car was just towed. You think you can possibly take me there?"

"I don't know. I mean, you could be some type of serial killer."

"I'm not a serial killer."

"Said the serial killer." Mike replied causing Mercedes to chuckle then wince at the pain. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you laugh. Come on, let me take you to my car." he said then made his way over to his car. Mercedes frowned when she realized it was his car that took her parking spot.

"You do know that's an employee parking spot right?" she asked when he got to the car and opened the door for her. She got in and waited on him to get in the driver side to hear his response.

"I didn't mean to take your spot. I was only supposed to run in and return a book and be out. Then I saw you and everything else. I'm sorry." he responded as he looked over at her. She shook her head in disbelief then jumped when he reached over her.

"Hell to the nah..." she screamed then stopped when she noticed he was getting her seat belt. "Oh! My bad thought you were trying something funny."

"Safety first." he replied as she buckled herself then watched him buckle himself and back out of the parking lot. "Where to...your highness?"

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Once they arrived at her place, Mercedes tried to calm her nerves around him. She wasn't sure what was normal. She'd never had a man over before, especially not a man as fine as Mike was. He looked around her apartment and looked at the different pictures that she had of her mother and friends. She knew eventually he would ask questions so she decided to just dive in and give him a quick recap.

"That's me and my mother when we went to Niagra falls one year." she said as he looked on. He picked a picture that had Mercedes and two of her best friends and pointed towards the goofy prom pose they were doing. "Junior Prom, one of the juniors spiked the drink and we all were wasted that night." she giggled. He then picked up a picture that they took on the last trip that changed their life forever. "That was the last trip I took with my mother and best friends. We had a major accident and we all almost died that night. My mother and I both fell into a coma, I woke up but she never did." she explained and tried to smile when Mike reached over and gave her hand a squeeze for comfort.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"Yeah...how about that massage, huh?" she asked forcing a smile on her face. "Where do you want me?" she asked then paused and turned to face him embarrassed by her choice of words. "I mean...where can we...uh..."

"Your choice, Mercedes. Where do you feel most comfortable?" he asked as he placed a timer on his cellphone.

"Right here." she replied pointing to the sofa. I've never had a man in my bedroom before." she added then blushed as he raised his brows in shock.

"You're definitely a rarity these days." he smiled as he watched her remove her jacket and scarf. "I don't think I've ever met any virgins around our age. I find that to be quite refreshing. Are you saving it for marriage?" he asked. "You can lay on the sofa and I will just kneel and do my magic." she smiled nervously then got on the sofa and took a deep breath before responding.

"Yeah...I just think that is something you share with someone special. Something that no one else can say they ever shared with me. I can truly feel opened and liberated when I am with him...you know?" she asked as she closed her eyes and anticipated his first touch. Other than her physical therapist this would be the first time a man was touching eighty nine percent of her body.

"Yes...I can understand that." he replied as he began to massage her. She began to moan softly as his hands massaged her shoulders first. "Just relax and you'll get a better experience out of this." he added as he felt her tense up. She inhaled deeply then let out a soft moan as she completely relaxed herself away." He continued to get to know her as he massaged her for the thirty minutes when the timer rang she turned around and sat up as he sat next to her and took her feet in his hand to continue massaging her feet.

"So...I am guessing you're not a virgin, huh?" she asked as she looked over at him. There was no way that he was one when his hands did what it just did to her body with clothes on.

"What makes you assume that?"

"Well...you do stuff like that." she pointed to his hands on her feet and giggled before pulling it away from him. "And you look like that." she added shyly as he smiled at her.

"You think I'm attractive?" he asked as he moved in closer to her. She felt her heart skip a beat but remained where she was then nodded in response to his question. "I think you're attractive too." he added. She looked up at him and smiled before licking her lips as he moved in closer. She couldn't believe she was about to get her first real kiss. The other kiss she got didn't count because it was on a dare on prom night. This was going to be real. He reached over and stroked her cheek before inching over and pressing his lips on hers. His thin lips felt weird against her plump ones but it didn't stop her from inching closer as he parted her lips with his tongue and deepened the kiss. She wondered if he could tell she didn't know what she was doing as she tried to mock what he did. They kissed for what felt like five entire minutes before they both parted and just looked at each other with smiles on their lips. "You're a really good kisser."

"Uh...yeah...thanks...you're not that bad either." she replied.

"Well...I hate to bail on you but I have to go to work..." he got up and grabbed his phone.

"Yeah I have an appointment in a few that I guess I'll have to uber to now."

"Oh okay well, let me have your number and I'll call you so we can arrange a date this weekend." he stated as he typed her name in his phone.

"Uh...a date...this weekend...like a real date?" she asked then felt stupid for asking it. He looked at her and laughed before handing his phone over to her. She took it and quickly placed her number inside as they made their way to the door. Mercedes opened the door and leaned on it as he stepped out and turned to face her.

"A real date...I pick you up...we go out and eat or whatever." he replied. "Cool?" he asked then winked at her when she nodded and blushed like a school girl. "You're so cute." he added before leaning in and kissing her goodbye. "I'll call you." Mercedes watched as he walked away then paused when she noticed a note that was stuck to her door. She quickly grabbed it and read the note.

"Let me know if we're still meeting at the gym." the note said. Mercedes read the note a couple times then crumpled it and left it on the table. Someone must have left the note on the wrong door. She closed the door then quickly set up an uber pick up for her appointment.

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Mercedes made it to her therapist but was late as usual. They were used to her so they always gave her the wrong time just so that she'd arrive at the right time. She smiled as she thought about the kiss she just experienced and the date she was going to go on this weekend. She couldn't wait to talk about it but she was going to wait till the date to avoid jinxing it all. Unfortunately, her therapist noticed the smile on her face and zeroed right in on it.

"So are you going to tell me why you keep smiling, blushing and have three hickies on your neck?"

"Hickies? These aren't hickies. I think they are like bug bites are something. Maybe even an allergic reaction, Ms. Pillsbury." Mercedes quickly replied then tried to hide the marks on her neck. Ms. Pillsbury was very aware of Mercedes blackouts and personality issues. She'd met the other Mercedes right out of the hospital. It all started when her mother finally passed on. She went from being this shy girl to this happy go lucky-take-life-by-the-balls girl the next day. At first Ms. Pillsbury thought she was suffering from multiple personalities that were different from Mercedes herself, but after seeing videos of the old Mercedes, prior to the accident, it all made sense. After her mother passed her personalities decided to just take shifts.

"Are you taking your medication?" she asked and watched as Mercedes quickly replied with a shake of the head. This was helpful because at first, one of the shifts would be an entire week but now they are down to a day or two. "Good...if you take your medication regularly we can ensure that you get back to being a full recovered Mercedes...okay?"

"I am...I promise. I want to get back to the old me. Especially if I want to see where things will go with Mike." Mercedes smiled then continued to tell her about how she met Mike.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey Hey Hey! So as I promised I will announce the person that guessed the right song and it was (drumrolllllllllllllllllllllllllllll) Sweetiedee...the song that inspired this fic is Same Girl by Usher/R Kelly. As you see I named the title Same Cedes. lol anyway...to answer the questions:**

 **Dayjavoo1: Yes Ms. Pillsbury is the worst but she is helping Mercedes. You will see.**

 **SweetieDee: I am happy you are wondering that...keep that in your back pocket for a few chapters.**

 **Juju:This chapter should answer your question.**

 **Lamimi: Who is endgame? I wonderrrrrrrrr lol**

 **Phatty: lol now I'm hungry**

 **Thank you for the reviews. I really enjoy reading them. Let me know what you think and what you assume will happen next. Love y'all.**

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The next day, Sam arrived at the gym bright and early. He wasn't sure if Mercedes would come out but he tried to remain positive. He couldn't hide that he was upset and a bit ashamed. In all of his years, he'd never been ditched so hard. He racked his mind of the moment they shared. He tried to figure out if he did something that upset her or possibly if there was a red flag that he ignored. When he was at her place he didn't see any signs that there was another man in her life, but what if there was. She could have been one of those women that slept with different men because their husband's weren't doing it right. But, after she shared that story with him he just couldn't see how she could lie to him that way. The more he thought about it the more upset he became with himself for evening having sex with a client. But there was something about her that he just couldn't resist. He shook his head and got on the treadmill to run a mile as he waited to see if she was going to show up.

Twenty minutes had passed the time she had scheduled with him when Sam finally hopped off the treadmill and wiped the sweat off his face. He thought it was obvious that she wasn't going to make till he turned around and saw her walking in with a broad smile on her face. He watched as she took her dear sweet time to wave and wish everyone a great morning. He tried to hold in his anger as he mentally told himself to keep calm and remain as stoic as possible. She saw him and her smile widen even more as if she had missed him. Sam shook his head and walked over to meet her half way. He had all the right mind to tell her that the session was cancelled but for some reason those words never came out of his mouth.

"Good morning sweet cheeks!" she said as she removed her bag from her shoulder. "Can you believe that my ass is still sore? You wore my ass out yesterday, baby." she said before playfully swatting him. Sam wanted to correct her that they didn't work out yesterday but he decided he was not in the mood for whatever game she was playing.

"Well today is probably going to be no better." Sam replied as they began to stretch. "We're going to up the miles you're running today and add a minute to your plank." He could feel Mercedes watching him as he walked over to the treadmill. In his peripherals he could see her looking at him as if he was crazy but he refused to look her way.

"Alright, so we're back to this tough ass, huh?" she mumbled to herself before getting on the treadmill. Sam heard her and tried to hold in the smirk that started to creep on the side of his lips. He didn't want to break her spirit like he did the last time but he was not going to lose focus. She was a client and that's all she was going to be. Even though deep down he wanted to know what happened, he was willing to let it go and remain professional.

"Come on, Mercedes!" Sam shouted as he increased the speed on the treadmill. Mercedes glared at him but still tried to keep that same smile on her face. It was slowly weakening but unlike last time she didn't falter. "That's it, Mercedes! You can do it! Finish strong!" Sam encouraged her every step of the way.

"I can't finish...I can't..." Mercedes muttered when she was about 5 minutes away from finishing.

"You got this, Mercedes!"

"No...I don't...can we stop here?"

"You're almost there." Sam responded instead. She shook her head but continued a couple more seconds before reaching for the button to stop the treadmill. "What are you doing?"

"Sam...I...am...telling...you...I can't do this. I can't finish it." she said as she tried to catch her breath. Sam rolled his eyes and sighed as he watched her hop off the machine. "I don't think you understand. There are places on my body that is sore as hell still."

"Mercedes, you can't cry every time we workout."

"Ain't nobody crying."

"You gotta let me do my job, Mercedes. And to do this you have to know that there's no carpool lane to sexy."

"I'm already sexy, baby." Mercedes said with as much sass that she can muster without crying out in pain. "I'll let you do your job but...damn...I thought after yesterday we'd be...you know..."

"Yesterday?" Sam asked cutting her off.

"Yeah...we had a good time together. You told me you would call me later and you didn't. Now I'm here and you're acting like..." she paused then pointed to him and shook her head. "Like that? Did I miss something?" she asked and reached over to touch his hand as if she were really concerned. Sam wasn't sure if she was playing around or trying to get him wrapped around her fingers as she did the other day.

"No...nope...nothing." Sam scoffed before trying to walk away but stopping when she pulled him back to her.

"Why didn't you call?" she asked as she looked him in the eyes. Sam stared back at her, feeling the hold he had on his emotions starting to break. He was trying really hard not to tell her that she was full of shit but she had her eyes on him and he could swear she looked concerned.

"You think I didn't call you?" Sam asked with a chuckle as he pulled out his cellphone and went straight for his call log. He handed her the phone, even though he was ashamed of how many times he'd called her, he wanted her to see. "As you can see, I called. More than I should have but I called...and I texted you." he added as she scrolled then looked up at him with a smile. "And to make matters worse, I even went by your place and left a note."

"I...I...never got any of those calls or messages, Sam." she replied. "Seriously." she added as Sam rolled his eyes then took her phone from her hands. "I swear...I never got them." she continued then shuffled through her bag and took out her own cellphone. She handed him the phone and watched as he looked at her call log then handed it back to her.

"Well it's the right number. It's the same number you called me from that morning." he explained then watched as she looked through her phone trying to understand what went wrong. She was either really good at lying or she really didn't get any of the calls. Sam watched her for a minute then decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. Deep down Sam felt a bit relieved that she hadn't ignored him purposely. "Hey...look it's alright." Sam said as he reached for her hand.

"No it's not. I bet you thought I was some little hussy, huh?" she asked as she looked at Sam then sat on the bench with her phone in hand. "Well I thought you played me too but I was still hopeful that you didn't." she added with a chuckle that made her eyes twinkle again.

"I had a good time with you, there was no playing there."

"There was a little playing." she added with a wink then playfully jabbed him. "So...where do we go from here?" she asked before looking over at him quizzically. Sam smiled as he sat next to her. Although he said wanted to keep things professional between them, Sam couldn't help that he was intrigued by her. He could just feel that there was more to Mercedes than what he saw and he wanted to discover it all. He wanted to get to know the part of her that she hid behind all the smiles she paraded around. He knew he couldn't get to know that part if all they ever did was have sex and workout. He needed to court her.

"I would like to take you on a date, if that's okay with you." he nervously looked her way and watched as the smile on her face stretched wider. "Is that smile a yes?"

"It's a hell yes." Mercedes replied. "Tonight?" she asked as she jumped up and began packing her duffle bag.

"I think we can start the date now. The Ohio state fair is in town, we can check that out if you're cool with it?" he asked as they made their way to the locker rooms. She shook her head then quickly kissed his cheek before disappearing behind the doors. Sam smiled as he just stared at the door. He had a good feeling about her. He hadn't felt that way about a woman in a long while and he couldn't wait to see how much fun they'd have at the fair.

* * *

Sam and Mercedes drove over to the fair in his car as she recanted the craziness that caused her to be late that morning. She explained to him that she woke up looking for her car because she thought it was stolen. She then explained that she then found out when she got to work that she had been fired and that her car had been towed and not stolen. Sam almost felt bad that he thought she was flaking on him when she was dealing with real life issues. With everything that she had going on in her life, losing her job and car in the same day was just too much to bare but she was still smiling. That was the thing that he just couldn't help but admire. She didn't let anything stop her from smiling that beautiful smile of hers.

"Well, after a day like that, you need something that will genuinely put a smile on your face." Sam said as he stepped out of the car and made his way around to her side. "Are you ready?"

"Let's do this!" she said with excitement as she got out of the car. "I haven't been to the fair since high school." she added as Sam took her hand in his. "We have to get a bracelet so that we can ride all the rides." she snugged up into his arm and wrapped hers around his. Sam looked down at her and smiled as they walked up to the line behind other couples who were on their dates.

"Are you sure you can handle all the rides?" Sam asked as he challenged her. Mercedes rolled her eyes at him then placed one hand on her hip as she looked him up and down.

"I ain't scared of no rides." she replied as they got to the booth, Sam paid for the bracelets. "I think we should ride the Big Dipper first." she pointed over to the biggest roller coaster that was placed at the far end of the park.

"It's all the way in the back, Mercedes." Sam replied as she pulled him. "Let's ride these rides first then work our way to the Big Dipper." Mercedes stopped and smiled at Sam then giggled behind her hands.

"Wait a minute now, are you scared of the Big Dipper?"

"No...I just want to check out the tilt-o-whirl and possibly ruin our workout with some funnel cakes." Sam replied as Mercedes shook her head and continued to laugh. "I'm not scared. I'm serious!" he replied as she laughed louder.

"Okay, you big baby...we can ride those baby rides first." she replied as he pulled her to him. "You're lucky you're so cute." Mercedes added before reaching up to place a a chaste kiss on his lips.

For the rest of the evening they rode every single ride within the park and eventually got to the Big Dipper. Sam was shocked when she decided to ride the ride twice. She was willing to ride every ride with no hesitation, even the rides that were meant for children. Sam played a couple games and won a couple big teddy bears that she eventually gave to different children that they passed by. Sam couldn't take the smile off his face as he watched her hand another teddy bear to another child. By the end of the night Sam wanted badly to see that smile every morning and night but he didn't want to scare her away. He continued to smile at her as they made their way to the car.

"Are you okay, Sam?" she asked as she stared up at him.

"Yeah, I had a great time." Sam replied as he wrapped his arms around her and looked down at her. She quickly placed her arms around his neck and nodded with approval.

"Yeah it was aight."

"Just aight?" he asked mocking the way she said it. "You can't tell me you didn't enjoy the tilt-o-whirl."

"Okay...that was actually really fun." she replied causing the corner of Sam's lips to curl up as he remembered how much fun they ended up having on the tilt-o-whirl.

"That's what I thought." Sam added before lowering his head to kiss her. He finally pulled away when he heard the sound of children running behind them. "Let me take you home."

"Yes zaddy!" she replied playfully.

"No...seriously, I'm just taking you home." Sam responded as he held the door opened for her. And just like when he said he had to leave to help his roommate she frowned again. "I have a client in the morning, so I have to be up early." he quickly replied. She still pouted as he shut the door and walked around to the driver side and hopped in. "You're mad?" he asked as he stuck the key in the ignition then looked over at her.

"No...I know you have to work." she smiled then reached for her seat belt. Sam smiled and leaned over to kiss her once more before placing his own seat belt and driving to her house. She sang along with the radio the entire way there. Sam couldn't believe how beautiful her voice was. She just kept adding on to the list of things that he liked about her. She just seemed as if she was just an amazing woman.

"So...we gotta figure out what's going on with your phone and how we can keep in touch." Sam stated once he got in front of her apartment.

"I am going to call my phone company to see what the hell happened and then I will call you. Possibly tomorrow since you have to be up early."

"Uh okay...I guess that will work. Long as I get to hear from you again, we'll go at your pace." Sam replied then got out of the car to open her door for her. Mercedes was definitely not like any other woman he'd ever dated. He wanted to make sure that he didn't mess this up by pressuring her. After they said goodbye at the door he made his way back to his car.

* * *

Sam made it home within minutes, still with a smile on his face from the moment he spent with Mercedes. His roommate was just stepping out of the shower when he caught the smile on Sam's face. Usually when Sam came home he'd have the stressed out look on his face but he was all smiles now.

"What's up, man? I haven't seen you smile like that in a while."

"Mike, I think I've met a chick that I think might be the one. I mean I don't wanna jinx it or anything but she's really cool." Sam replied as he grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. Sam and Mike had been roommates since college and best friends since high school, out of all of his friends that he'd had Mike was the one friend who's met every girl he's ever been with and vice versa.

"Yeah? That's cool...what makes you think she's the one?"

"She rode the Big Dipper...twice." Sam replied with a smile before taking the last swig of the water. "Twice!"

"You're kidding me!" Mike replied in shock. "I didn't even know the fair was in town yet." he added as he walked to his room. "I have a date this Friday and I'm thinking maybe I'll take her there and see if she's my one."

"You should, man. We had a lot of fun there." Sam replied as he made his way to the shower. "Anyway, I have to hit the shower than hit the hay. You know I have to work in the morning."

"Same, dude, same." Mike replied then made his way back to his room to see about finally giving Mercedes a call. He looked at the time and decided it was possibly too late to do that. "I'll call her in the morning."

* * *

Mercedes couldn't get the smile off her face as she snuggled up to her pillow and pretended it was Sam. He was the perfect gentleman today and she wished he would have came over. He wasn't like all the other guys she'd messed with who claimed they wanted something real and only stuck around for the sex. Sam wanted more from her and she couldn't wait to show him all of her. She reached for her medication and took two as prescribed before turning off the lights. If all things went well with Sam she would finally have a real boyfriend and someone real to spend time with.


	4. Chapter 4

**I am so sorry that I haven't updated in what might be a week. I have no clue. I suffer from whatever Mercedes is suffering lol. I read all of the reviews and I see that some people are confused. If you were confused before you just might be even more confused after this chapter lol. I will try to answer some of them below:**

 **Amberslovechild: Is Mercedes with Sam or Mike? She with both and neither. Mercedes is still single. She hasn't claimed neither yet honestly.**

 **Kayah16: Is Mike feeling Mercedes? I think you missed an entire chapter. Chapter 2 answers that**

 **Dayjavoo: Emma needs a therapy her damn self.**

* * *

Mercedes woke up to the sound of her cellphone ringing. She opened one eye as she reached over for the phone to hit ignore. She reached out for the phone and accidentally hit answer. It was way too early for her to have to be on the phone. She glimpsed at the time in shock to see that it was already after noon. She quickly placed the phone next her face and groaned into the phone.

"Hey Mercedes, are you there?" she heard Mike say. She sat up and ran her fingers through her hair as if he could see her and forced a smile on her face. "Did I wake you?"

"Mike...no...uh...hi...no! I've been up." she lied.

"Oh okay cool. I was going to call you last night but decided that the morning would be better but then I got caught up in work and other things, you know how that is?"

"Yeah sure...I understand." Mercedes replied. She was happy that he called she couldn't wait for their date on Friday. She can only imagine what he'd plan for them that night. As he continued to talk about how busy his week was, Mercedes allowed her mind to think of how great it would be if he took to a nice restaurant or maybe even a small picnic.

"I wanted to see how you felt about going to the fair."

"The fair?" Mercedes repeated. She hated the fair. She hated the rides, the crowds of people and the yucky food trucky food. She couldn't believe that's where he wanted to take her on their first date. "What are we fifteen?" Mercedes asked herself as she tried to hide how she was feeling.

"Yeah, my roommate told me that he and his date had a blast out there last night."

"You have a roommate?"

"Yeah...you should meet him. He's a really cool guy." Mike responded. "So...about the fair? I was thinking we can hit the fair in a few hours or so. Cool?"

"Wait...you want to do the fair tonight? I thought our date was Friday?" she asked as she looked at her cellphone screen to check on the date. "Oh wow it's Friday already?"

"Yeah I guess since you're not working you're losing track of days, huh?" Mike asked sympathetically. "I'm sorry again about that. Hopefully we end up having fun at the fair that you don't even remember it was my fault."

"Yeah...the fair, right, so much fun." she replied as she imagined going to the fair. She didn't want to tell him that she would rather die then to walk inside of a fair but she didn't want to lose the opportunity to go on this date.

"I'm starting to get the feeling that you don't like the fair."

"No...I...uh...just never been...to uh..." she stuttered as she thought about the crowd and worst of all the bumper cars and roller coasters. She wouldn't dare get on one without reliving the accident with her mother and friends. But how can she tell him no when he sounded so excited to go. "I can't wait to see you and spend time with you." she replied but she knew she failed in making it sound sincere.

"Look, Mercedes, if you don't want to go to the fair we don't have to go. I just want to take you out and have a good time while we get to know each other." Mike replied. "How about this...I'll surprise you with the date idea I had before my roommate told me the fair's in town. How about that?" Mike asked. Mercedes bit her bottom lip as she contemplated trusting him to please her with a good date idea. Just minutes ago he thought the fair was a good idea. How was she to trust that he could come up with something good. "Do you trust me?"

A simple question that deserved a simple response of either yes, no or hell to the no but for Mercedes it always stalled her. She hadn't trusted anyone in a while. Everyone she ever trusted and loved was gone. How was she supposed to answer a question like that? After knowing him for all of a day. Mercedes was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice that Mike was laughing.

"Okay, maybe it's too early to ask that kind of question, but seriously, trust me. I'll be there to pick you up by seven and I promise, you'll have a good time."

"Can I get a hint to know what to wear at least?" she asked as she tried to hide the smile that was begging to appear across her face. She was slowly liking how he could read how she felt without her even saying a word.

"No hints, just trust!" He replied. "Anyways, I have to get going but I will be there to pick you up at seven for your surprise date."

"Alright, call me if you need to cancel or whatever." she added.

"I don't plan on cancelling. I will be there at seven. See you soon, beautiful." Mike quickly responded before hanging up. Mercedes stared at her phone and blushed before lying back on her bed and staring at the ceiling.

"Trust." she repeated to herself a couple times then sighed. "Mama...I need you now more than I ever did. I need to learn how to not be afraid of everything. How to live again. I can't do this without you." she said out loud. Her mother was like her best friend and at times like these, her mother would always push her to try the things she was afraid of the most. Without her there to push her, Mercedes didn't have anyone to push her other than Ms. Pillsbury. She pulled out her uber app and scheduled a pick up to see her for the push she needed.

* * *

Mercedes rolled into Ms. Pillsbury's office with a suitcase and sat in front of her puzzled therapist. She knew she'd give Mercedes time to explain why she had a suitcase with her and plastered a smile on her face as she wiped her desk with a clorox wipe. Mercedes always wondered why she always wiped everything some times more than once but she had her own problems and always forgot to ask. Something about her always made Mercedes feel that she can just open up and tell her everything. She had to be one of the only person Mercedes knew that she trusted.

"So Mercedes, are you going to tell me what's in the suitcase?" she asked as she fixated her enlarged eyes copper colored eyes on the suitcase then back at Mercedes before tossing the wipe in the trash.

"I need your help." Mercedes replied before reaching for the zipper of the suitcase. "Remember the guy I met when I got fired...the one responsible for getting me fired." she rambled then shook her head as she tried to get straight to the point. "So he said we had a date for Friday and I thought it was tomorrow but I guess I overslept and missed...whatever..." she waved it off and smiled.

"Have you been taking your medication every night?"

"Yes, every night, religiously. I just want to look good tonight for my date but Mike says it's a surprise. And..."

"You're scared?" She interjected. "So I'm going to assume that the outfit du jour is inside of the luggage, right?" she asked as she walked around from behind her desk and leaned against it instead as she watched Mercedes unzip the suitcase.

"I wanted to wear this if he takes me to some expensive restaurant for dinner." she explained as she pulled out a little black dress she'd bought a while back when she was first told that her mother left everything to her on her will. Her mother stated to enjoy life and she bought the dress and never enjoyed it. "And pairing with these heels because Mike is really tall." she smiled as she looked up at Ms. Pillsbury, waiting for her to comment.

"Will you be comfortable in a dress like this?" she asked instead.

"That's why I wanted to possibly just wear this." Mercedes reached down and pulled out the other outfit which was just a pair of skinny jeans and a blouse. "I'd feel more comfortable in this but I really want him to like me so I want to wear the dress." she bit her bottom lip then looked over at Ms. Pillsbury waiting for her response again.

"Mercedes, you know I am always up for you challenging yourself and getting over your fears and anxiety. I would say pick the dress if you said it is what you wanted to wear but if you're only wearing it to make him like you, I'd say no. Go with what your heart says." she added then handed the skinny jeans to Mercedes.

"My heart doesn't speak! You do! If I wear this dress his mouth will drop to the floor."

"What would your mother tell you if you'd ask her this question?" she asked and Mercedes immediately sighed and shrugged her shoulders. She looked at the dress and then the skinny jeans then shook her head.

"She'd say that if Mike's jaw didn't fall just from my smile then he isn't the man for me." Mercedes smiled then looked up at Ms. Pillsbury as she smiled as well. Mercedes wasn't sure what she was going to wear but she was excited to see Mike.

* * *

Mercedes gave herself a once over for the fifth time that night before looking over and noticing that it was seven. He was going to be there at any minute and her nerves were killing her softly. She spent hours curling her hair and prayed that he didn't take them somewhere that would mess it up. She glanced at her phone as she tried to take a picture of her outfit but focused on the time instead. It was already a few minutes after seven and Mike hadn't arrived yet. And just that quick she started to assume the worst. Where was he? Was he canceling? Was she being blown off or played? She looked at herself in the mirror and felt embarrassed that she put so much effort in getting ready when he wasn't even serious.

"Maybe I should undress." she said to herself then looked at the time again. He was now twenty minutes late as she paced in front of the mirror and debated undressing. She thought about calling him but then another thought seeped its way in. "What if he had a car accident?" she asked out loud as she quickly scrolled on her phone then pressed dial. She felt her heart dropping as it continued to ring. She paced as it rang then when his voicemail came on she felt her heart hit the floor. He was standing her up. "I can't believe I trusted him." she said out loud then jumped when she heard the sound of knocking at the door. She wanted to be upset that he was late and didn't call but deep down she was more excited that he arrived as she made her way to the door and took a deep breath. She opened the door and he rushed right in.

"Hey Mercedes, I am so sorry I..." he stopped as he turned to see her standing at the door. She couldn't help but blush at the fact that his jaw dropped when she decided to skip the dress for the skinny jeans. "You look...amazing!"

"You think so?" Mercedes asked as she looked down at her outfit then back at him as he made his way over to her.

"Hell to the yesssss!" he replied causing her to laugh.

"Don't ever say that again." she giggled as she almost forgot that he was late. "I almost thought you weren't coming." she added as he pulled her in for a hug. He smelled so good she practically ignored the excuse he gave of getting a flat on his way over.

"I feel like I just keep messing up." he said then smiled as he took her hand. "But I plan to make up for all of that. Are you ready to have fun?" Mercedes took a deep breath and made her way to the door then looked back at him and smiled.

"I'm trusting you, okay?"

"I got you, babe."

* * *

The entire ride Mercedes tried to guess where Mike was taking them but she really had no clue. He kept looking over and smiling as if he were taking her to another city or country. She nervously watched as he turned into the parking lot of what looked like a bar and suddenly became happy that she didn't waste time wearing that little black dress. Not only was he late but he didn't plan the evening she was expecting. She tried to hide how she was feeling but the moment he parked he looked over at her and saw the look on her face and laughed.

"Trust me...you will enjoy this." Mike jumped out of the car then ran over her side to get her door. He kept a smile on her face as she stepped out of the car. "You really look amazing, Mercedes." he said causing her to blush again. He guided her to the door and whispered something to the hostess as she wrote something down then placed them in a bowl. The bar was actually really nice on the inside and towards the back they had what she assumed was a live stage for performers. She couldn't imagine ever getting on stage singing for people she didn't know. The only person she ever sang for was her mother.

"What did you tell her?" Mercedes asked as the hostess brought them over to a table near the stage. He pushed her chair in then made his way to his seat as he ordered himself a drink. "I''ll have a lemonade." Mercedes stated then waited till the waitress left to lean in and ask again. "So...uh...what did you tell her?" she asked again then stopped when someone came on the stage.

"Are y'all ready to do this tonight?" the woman asked as everyone began to clap. Mercedes looked around and joined in nervously as Mike just smiled with excitement. "We have a couple good ones tonight." she smiled as the same hostess from earlier brought the bowl over to her. Mercedes felt a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach as she looked over at Mike and he still had that silly smile on his face. "Let's see who will be lucky enough to grace our stage and tear our ears apart." she joked as everyone laughed along with her.

"Mike...uh...what the hell is happening?"

"It's Karaoke night...trust me it's super fun." he replied. She almost wanted to scream. If he asked her to trust him one more time she would just lose it. She knew she had to make a run for it. She wasn't ready to hit nobody's stage.

"I have to go to the ladies room." Mercedes managed to say as she stood up and paused when she heard her name being said from the lady on the stage.

"Mercedes Jones! Come to the stage!" she shrieked as everyone clapped and egged her on. She looked over at Mike in horror as he stood up and encouraged her to get on the stage. "Don't be scared!"

"Mercedes, come on you can do this! Trust me, you will really enjoy it!" Mike said as he took her hand and guided her towards the stage. Mercedes felt like her world was spinning as everyone was egging her on. She wanted to run out of there but instead she took slow steps on the stage. She stood in front of the mic and stared out into the crowd as Mike clapped and cheered her on till he was back at his seat. She watched him mouth the words that she could do it as everyone fell silent. She looked through the selections of song then stopped when she saw a song that her mother loved to hear her sing.

"Um...I guess I'll pick this song." She said into the mic and cleared her throat before looking up to the ceiling. "This is for you mama." she said as the instrumental began to play. "I stare at my reflection in the mirror...Why am I doing this to myself?" she started softly and tried to avoid looking at everyone. She imagined that her mother was sitting in the room listening to her as she increased her volume. "Losing my mind on a tiny error, I nearly left the real me on the shelf...No, no, no, no..." she took the mic of the stand and stood back to sing the way she would at home. " Don't lose who you are, in the blur of the stars, Seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing, It's okay not to be okay..." she paused and allowed her eyes to scan the crowd for a second. "Sometimes it's hard, to follow your heart...Tears don't mean you're losing, everybody's bruising, just be true to who you are..."

She continued to sing the song but this time she allowed herself to focus on Mike. She could see the look of awe on his face as she continued to sing. She couldn't believe that she was actually singing and on a stage at that. She could feel her heart pounding out of her chest but she continued to sing anyway. "Brushing my hair, do I look perfect? I forgot what to do to fit the mold, yeah...the more I try the less it's working, yeah, 'cause everything inside me screams, no, no, no, no, yeah." she hit a high note then paused as everyone stood up to applaud her. "Don't lose who you are, in the blur of the stars...seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing...it's okay not to be okay...sometimes it's hard, to follow your heart...tears don't mean you're losing, everybody's bruising..." she placed the mic back in place then sighed before singing the last note. "Just be true to who you are, yeah, yeah, yeah." she felt a rush flushing through her as she watched Mike jump up screaming "That's my girl!" over and over as she shyly walked off the stage over to him.

"Mercedes...that was..."

"Amazing!" she finished before jumping in his arms and hugging him tight. "Thank you, Mike, I haven't been pushed like that in a long time. Thank you!" he wrapped his arms around her as well. She couldn't believe it but the remainder of the date she really enjoyed the night. She laughed and enjoyed the sound of other patrons that sang. Even Mike went up on the stage and she hadn't laughed that hard in so long it brought tears in her eyes. When Mike dropped her off, they shared a passionate kiss at her door and promised to see each other again. She walked into her bedroom, undressed and took her medication. She noticed that she was taken the last of the meds and mentally reminded her self to refill them before crashing on the bed with a smile on her face. Within a minute she had fallen asleep.

* * *

It was two in the morning when she was woken up by the sound of someone knocking on her door. She looked over at her phone and squinted when the bright light displayed in front of her. She didn't know anyone that would come to see her at this time of the hour. She grabbed her robe and walked over to the door and peered into the peephole to see Sam standing there. She felt her heart drop before she rushed to her bathroom and checked her appearance then quickly placed some mouthwash in her mouth before running back to the door. Maybe he changed his mind about spending the night over after they had such an amazing time at the fair. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Sam...what are you doing..." she asked as she opened the door. Sam didn't allow her to finish her question as he scooped her up then pinned her against the wall and passionately kissing her. Mercedes quickly pushed the door closed as they continued to kiss and make their way back to her bedroom. They peeled each other's clothes of bit by bit before they made it to her room. By the time they made it to the bed they were both naked as they fell against. "Sam..." she moaned against his lips. As happy as she was that he came back. She really wanted to know why he came back.

"I haven't heard from you all day." he replied as he planted kisses on her neck. Mercedes was too far gone to tell him that he had just seen her. Hell she missed him and wanted to feel him inside of her again. He lifted up and just stared down at her as she wrapped her legs around him.

"I missed you too." she moaned as she ran her hands up his chest and pulled him back down to kiss him again. She reached over and grabbed a condom and handing one to him.

"I want to spend the entire weekend with you. I can't go another day without seeing or hearing from you." Sam stated as he took the condom and placed it on. He grabbed her legs and placed them over her shoulders before thrusting himself inside of her slowly. Mercedes held on to him and smiled that her sex game had Sam so gone that he felt that he'd gone an entire day when it was really just hours. Either way she couldn't wait to spend three days with him.


	5. Chapter 5

**So I am updating again because I took so long to update. I hope I can confuse you guys some more in this chapter lol. I know you all are wondering what triggers shy Cedes vs Sass Cedes but you will get in the chapter that comes after this one. So for the reviews let me reply to you all (Side note Thanks for still reading even though this story is confusing the hell out of you. I promise you will get it soon):**

 **Sweetiedee: You be soooo close sometimes...so close yet so far**

 **Suzy: Lord help her**

 **Jujubee: Right this poor love triangle...keep the rest of your comment in your back pocket...it will be useful soon :) teehehehe**

 **Mowatts:LOL I am playing on the fact that on Glee they went to Emma for help when she was the one that needed help the most lol**

 **Anyways...I forgot to credit the song Mercedes sang last chapter...go to youtube and search Amber Riley Jessie J (you're welcome) and for this chapter Youtube Chord Overstreet Beautiful Girl.**

* * *

Sam and Mercedes spent the entire night in each other's arms, cuddling and talking as if this were something they did every night. Sam was happy he decided to stop by although he never intended to do so at all. He spent the entire day training his other clients and occasionally checking his phone to see if she would call or text. He hated that she had him feeling so unsure of himself whenever they were near each other. And the straw that broke the camels back was when Mike came home just bragging about how well his date went. Sam didn't even stick around to hear the rest when he jetted out the door and made his way to Mercedes. He couldn't wait another moment before he saw or heard from her.

Now, she was resting her head on his chest and writing her name on his chest with her fingers after they'd done every position he could imagine. Every so often she would giggle and look up at him then kiss him on his lips and just stare up at him. And each time, Sam would stroke her chin with his fingers and kiss her once again. At this rate, Sam just knew that they would probably spend the entire weekend in her bedroom. He had turn the ringer off on his phone because he did not want any interruptions this time. If Mike was locked out he was just going to have to call a locksmith.

"So you know, we've been spending so much time with each other that I really don't know that much about you, right?" Mercedes looked at him and waited to see what he would say. Now that she mentioned it, he never realized that they didn't really get into their past when they were together. Sam usually wasn't sure what to ask since she lost so much of her past during the accident. He didn't want to trigger her but he still wanted to know as much as he could about her.

"Uh...yeah...guess we've been busy doing other things." Sam responded as she playfully hit him. "Ouch! I'm just saying...what do you want to know?" she looked at him and tapped her chin with her index finger.

"Let's see...uh...so where did you go to high school?"

"McKinley High."

"You're lying?" she asked as she quickly sat up and got off the bed. Sam watched as she ran over to her dresser and pulled out a book then made her way over to the bed and sat next to him. "I went to McKinley too. What year were you?" she asked as she began to flip through the yearbook.

"2009."

"You have got to be shittin' me?" she flipped through the pages then stopped and looked over at him. "How come I don't remember you?"

"I don't know. Were you popular or something?"

"Um...I guess...for the wrong reasons though." she added then chuckled. "I was in the glee club." she added before hiding her face with the yearbook. Sam burst in laughter as he tried to imagine her in the glee club. How did he not know of her before?

"Well there you have it. Glee club was social suicide at McKinley." Sam replied then laughed when she playfully hit him again. "I'm just saying...it wasn't cool back then."

Yeah I guess we were hated." she chuckled as she flip through the pages then stopped and looked at him again. "So why aren't you in the yearbook?"

"I wasn't there for yearbook pictures. My family left Lima then came back so I missed all the fun." he replied with a smirk. "I did, however, become quarterback for a spell." he added with pride. Mercedes looked over at him as if she didn't believe him. "Seriously, but it was short lived because I was hit hard and they gave Finn Hudson the starting role." The moment he said Finn's name the smile that was on her lips went away. Finn had passed away shortly after graduation and they made a big deal about it at the school. Sam and Finn weren't as close as he was with Mike but Finn was a like-able guy. All the girls liked him.

"Oh my God, Finn, poor Finn. I was actually really close to Finn back in high school." Mercedes stated as she turned to the page where he'd signed her yearbook. Sam hated that he felt a tad bit jealous but as he read what Finn wrote, he wanted to know if there was something there. He wrote something basic but as a teenager you could tell there was something there. To write _You will always be special to me_ had to be more than just a fly by comment.

"Were you two...an item or something?" Sam asked as she sad stroked the picture then stopped to look over at him.

"No...he was just..." she paused as she looked at his picture again. "He was the first cool kid to be nice to any of us glee kids." she sighed again as if his passing still weighed heavy on her heart. "He was our leader in there. So it really hurt me...us when he passed away." Sam wanted to ask more but instead he tried to change the subject as he took the yearbook from her and flipped the pages till he landed on a picture before handing it to her.

"That's me and my best friend Mike, when I came back, he was the first to welcome me back."

"Mike...Mike Chang...the name sounds familiar but I can't place it. My memory isn't the way it used to be." she sighed. Sam watched as she squinted to see the picture then looked over at him with a smirk on her lips.

"Is your hair in a Bieber cut?"

"Yeah...don't laugh! Back then the ladies loved them some Beebs."

"Not this lady! I'm digging this Brad Pitt look you got going on." she replied before reaching over and playing in his hair. Sam smiled and allowed her to play with his hair before responding.

"You would've liked me." Sam added. "We would've made a cute couple."

"Samcedes." she muttered to herself.

"What?"

"Nothing." she giggled then shook her head. "Back then when someone started dating they would mash their names together. If we were a couple, we would've been Samcedes."

"Samcedes?" Sam repeated. "It has a nice ring to it."

"I am happy we met now."

"Why is that?"

"I was a huge prude in high school. And you boys were really into getting some at that school." she smiled then smirked his way. "I wanted to wait for marriage. Held on to that for a while too."

"I would've waited for you." Sam replied. Mercedes looked at him as if she believed him for a second before she shook her head in disbelief. "I seriously would wait. I mean the sex we have is awesome but you are so much more than the moments we share on this bed."

"Yeah that sounds sweet and all Sam but you couldn't even go a day without coming back here for some chocolate thunder." She chuckled and closed the yearbook before tossing it to the side. "There's nothing wrong with that now. We're both grown." she pushed him down and got on top of him. "And I really don't mind."

* * *

The next morning, Mercedes reached over and didn't feel Sam next to her. She looked to the side and noticed how many condoms they'd used up then also noticed that her meds were completely done. She mentally made a reminder to herself to refill them as soon as possible. She sat up and smiled when she heard him humming in the kitchen. She took the opportunity to run to the bathroom to shower and brush her teeth before making her way to him. She stood at the door way of the kitchen for a second and watched him in his boxer shorts, humming and flipping a pancake. She smiled before she slowly made her way over to him and wrapped her arms around his midsection and placed a kiss on his shoulder blade. He smiled and looked over his shoulder as she inched up to kiss his cheek.

"I had no idea you were a chef." Mercedes continued to rub his abs as he placed the pancake on a plate that had mounds of it stacked. "Uh are these healthy sir?" she asked as she let go of him and moved to grab the syrup.

"Yes I made these out of bananas and hold off the syrup. I have fresh strawberries for us to top it off." Sam moved aside to show that he had already diced up a couple strawberries. Mercedes grabbed the orange juice from the fridge and followed him to the dining room. She wasn't too sure about his healthy pancakes but she was going to give it a try and see how it went. "Go ahead...taste it." Sam said as he watched her stick a fork in it and stacked a piece of strawberry with it before placing it in her mouth. She looked at him as she chewed then smiled and nodded.

"Not bad...taste almost like banana muffins. All it's missing is some nuts." she smirked.

"Your so naughty." he replied. "And I like it." He added as he shook his head and smirked at her as he started to eat as well. He reached over and stroked her hand as they continued to eat and smile at each other. This was definitely something that she could get used to.

After they'd finish eating breakfast, Sam ran out to grab his guitar because he told her that she had the voice of an angel and inspired him to write a song about her. He couldn't wait to play it to see if she would like it. Mercedes smiled as she watched him grab a stool and place it in front of her. She sat on the couch and watched as he strummed a couple strings. She'd never been serenaded before, outside of the different glee projects so this was definitely making her fall for Sam. He looked up at her and allowed a faint smirk to cross his lips as he began to sing.

"Can you hear me...barely breathing...as you pass me by...you're an angel...with a body...got me crazy...without even trying." he started as he continued to look at her. "I'm a mess...I'm a wreck...no one makes me feel like this..." he sang as he continued to strum his guitar. "Beautiful girl...can you see me falling...all I want is you...make this a beautiful world...now my heart is calling...so caught up in you." he got up from the stool and started coming towards her as he continued to play the guitar and sang the words to the song he claimed she inspired. "I wish I could carry you away...and I don't even know your name...do you even know...you're a beautiful girl..." he tipped his guitar her way and smiled widely when she blushed.

"Conversations...I imagine...were they in my head...did I wake up...am I dreaming...are you here now...baby, in my bed..." he winked at her as he continued. "I'm a mess...I'm a wreck...if I ask would you say yes..." he walked back to the stool and sat down to continue the song. "Beautiful girl...can you see me falling...all I want is you...make this a beautiful world...now my heart is calling so caught up in you...I wish I could carry you away...and I don't even know your name...beautiful girl...do you even know you're a beautiful girl. Can you see me falling...baby, I'm falling...can you hear me...barely breathing...as you pass me by...beautiful girl...can you see me falling...all I want is you...Make this a beautiful world...now my heart is calling...so caught up in you I wish I could carry you away...and I don't even know your name...I'll never let go...do you even know...you're a beautiful girl. Yeahhhhh!" he continued strumming for a minute then nervously placed the guitar down and looked her way. "So...uh...what do you think?" Mercedes was speechless. She couldn't believe he could play the guitar and sing so beautifully at the same time. And to top it off he wrote the song for her. "I mean, it's a work in progress and I still gotta tweak it." he started to explain as Mercedes got up and made her way to him and placed her finger on his lips to stop him.

"Sam Evans, you're amazing!" she exclaimed before kissing him. He slowly wrapped his arm around her and deepened the kiss. He was everything she ever wanted in a man and more. Tough when he needed to be, sweet when she needed him to be and sexy as hell every single minute of the day. "What am I going to do with you?"

"I'm hoping you'd want to keep me." Sam replied as he looked at her then smiled when she lowered her head to kiss him once again. Sam ran his hands under her shirt an pulled it over her head then pulling her back to him as they continued to kiss. Mercedes smiled as she nibbled on his bottom lip while he reached around and unsnapped her bra. He stood up and lifted her up causing her to squeal as he carried her into the bedroom and tossed her to the bed. He slowly kissed his way up to her lips before reaching over for a condom.

* * *

It was Sunday afternoon when Sam finally decided to head home. They'd spent the rest of the evening singing songs together, watching movies and binge watching shows on Netflix. They held hands and cuddled as if they had not a care in the world. It was almost as if she had nothing to worry about, that he wasn't going to leave the next day. She hadn't had any blackouts and she was starting to feel a bit anxious and nervous again so she knew she needed to let him leave before her nerves set in. She hadn't felt nervous in so long and she knew it was due to the medication. She needed to refill it as soon as possible before she started to get on Sam's nerves with her insecurities. Because the moment he said he was going to head home, she couldn't stop thinking that he would never come back. Sam was feeling the same on the inside. He wasn't sure why but it was almost as if he would never see her again.

They hugged at the door and kissed goodbye more than three times before he finally let her go. She looked like she wanted to tell him to stay a little longer but neither of them said what they really wanted to say. Sam wanted to say that he loved her but felt it was too soon. And Mercedes wanted to tell him that she had fallen completely head over heels for him but she had fallen quick before and her heart was broken when he didn't feel the same for her. When he'd asked about Finn she'd wanted to tell him there was more there but what was there wasn't worth talking about. Especially since Finn was gone and he hadn't chosen her. She'd learn to go for what she wanted after her mother passed but she told herself to never allow herself to look like a fool ever again. So they both just stood there trying to see where would they go from there.

"So...tomorrow?"

"Yeah...after my therapy appointment. I have to get a refill on my medication." she replied then felt stupid for saying it. He smiled at her and pulled her in to kiss her goodbye once again. "If we keep kissing goodbye, we will be kissing good morning."

"You're right." Sam chuckled then pulled her in anyway before turning to leave. She watched him walk away and bit her bottom lip before walking back inside and closing the door behind her. She walked back to her room and picked up all the condom wrappers that were tossed around. Each one she picked up she got a chill as she relived the moment all over again. She continued to clean up the apartment with a smile on her face till she was complete. She'd never had a weekend like that before and she couldn't wait to have more.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you for reading and reviewing and coming back for this crazy love triangle story. Anyway, I dedicate this chapter to Dayjavoo...she inspired me to put a twist in this chapter. I hope you enjoy it.**

 **Anyway I know that there are no Mikecedes fans reading this...so you all hate when she spends time with Mike but trust me it works for the story. Please don't hate me lol Samcedes fans...y'all know I stay on my boat till i drowned with it so...don't skim or you will miss key things and confuse yourself more.**

* * *

For the rest of Sunday evening Mercedes felt a headache growing. She tried to find something to keep her mind off of it but as the time passed by the headache grew stronger. She finally decided to crawl in her bed and sleep it off. She woke up Monday morning feeling as if she'd been run over by a truck. The headache was still there and someone was knocking at her door. She crawled out of bed and wrapped her robe around her as she took baby steps to the door. She winced as the person knocked once again. She forced a smile on her face when she noticed Sam standing there, dressed as if Mercedes was going to go run with him. The moment he saw her looking at him with eye opened and the other closed tight.

"Mercedes, are you okay?" he asked as he walked in and closed the door behind him. Mercedes was really happy to see Sam but she really didn't want him to see her like this.

"Yes...I just need to get my rest and my..." she paused before saying refill then looked over at him in shame. "I'm not feeling as if I can workout or do anything today." she explained as she sat down on the sofa.

"Do you want me to stay with you? I can cancel my other..."

"No...no...Sam, seriously, don't do that! I really need to just go back to sleep." In all honesty, she just needed him to leave so that she could rush over to see if Ms. Pillsbury could help get rid of this headache.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked as Mercedes pushed him towards the door. "I'll come check on you later, okay?" he reminded her as he tilted her face up to place a soft kiss on her lips. "You sure I can't just stay and just you know...watch you sleep? Make sure you're okay?" Mercedes sighed as a smile spread across her face. He was sweet but she needed to just see Ms. Pillsbury and get the refill she needed.

"Sammmm, I will be okay once I rest. With you here I will never get any rest." she playfully pushed him out the door. Sam groaned but left anyway. Mercedes closed the door and leaned against the door as the pain started to intensify. She needed to make her way to get the refill she needed. She pulled her phone out and scheduled for an Uber before making her way to the bathroom to get ready.

* * *

When she arrived she was shocked to see Emma answering her own phones as the receptionist packed her things. The office, which was usually packed seemed weirdly empty for Monday morning. And Emma looked more anxious and nervous than she normally did.

"One minute Mercedes!" She stated with one gloved finger up, the phone cradled in the crook of her neck and the other free hand wiping the phone down. "Look I have a client here now and I can't talk right now. My receptionist just quit on me." she added as the receptionist stormed out. She hung the phone up then sighed as she looked at Mercedes and forced a smile on her face. "Okay, are you ready?"

Mercedes followed behind her as her, wincing at the pain that wouldn't subside continued to grow. Ms. Pillsbury closed the door behind her then made her way around the desk to grab her recorder and wipes. Mercedes looked at her and sighed as her head continued to pound.

"Can you please give me a refill?" Mercedes asked causing Emma to stop wiping her desk and look her way. She dropped the wipe in the trash along with her gloves. "Ever since I ran out my head has been pounding and killing me. And I feel anxious and scared for no reason again." she explained.

"Mercedes...I can't give you any refills."

"What?" Mercedes asked then winced when she realized how loud she was.

"The medication wasn't supposed to be something you took forever, Mercedes. You do know that right?"

"But I am not healed yet. I still have blackouts and things I don't remember. Every time I see Sam he makes me realize that I missed an entire day and have no clue about it."

"Any other people?" Emma asked causing Mercedes to look at her with confusion. "Do you get text or phone calls from strangers or..."

"Look, no I don't know...I don't remember...my head is hurting and I need something for it." Mercedes replied as she rubbed her temples.

"Yes and those are side effects of the medication. We've come a long way Mercedes. You used to have longer blackouts. And I felt that once you finished the last pill we would start seeing how you deal without it. Eventually you will be the way you were before the accident."

"How I deal with it? Are you deaf? My head feels like it's about to explode. I need something for this shit!" Mercedes replied as she glared at Emma. Mercedes could tell that she scared Emma but the way she was feeling she just couldn't find a care in her body.

"I can't..." Emma replied in what seemed like a whisper. She looked up at Mercedes with tear filled eyes before she got up and rifled through her desk drawers then pulled out a couple packets before making her way over to Mercedes. "Look all I can give you are these samples." she handed the samples to Mercedes then sat down next her.

"Oh hell to the no, Ms. P! What am I supposed to do with these?"

"I am losing my license, Mercedes!"

"Say what now?"

"I have a lawsuit that's coming my way and it looks like I might lose my practice." she paused then looked at Mercedes and took her hand in hers. "This medication is just a sample. Just take one a night. Don't go anywhere after you take it. You need to get a fulls nights rest before you can go anywhere. But you have to remember not to take more than once."

"What if I forget?" Mercedes asked as she stared at the samples. Suddenly she wasn't too sure she wanted to take the medication but then the pain reminded her that she needed it.

"Write a note to yourself on it. When you wake up you will see it and remember not to take another." Emma got up then walked over to her desk and wrote a name on a piece of paper before making her way to Mercedes again. "I have a couple doctors on this list that are good friends of mine. You can see them while I deal with this suit." she handed Mercedes the list and watched as she looked over the list. Outside of the medication that she needed Mercedes had no desire to call anyone from the list. She would just have to find her own doctor and hopefully one as understand as Emma was but better at what she did.

* * *

Mercedes wasted no time to take the medication. She was barely out of the Uber when she down the first package and tossed the package to the ground as she opened her door. She opened the package and dropped the pills in her pill bottle then placed it by her bed. Her head was still pounding as she searched for a piece of paper and pen to remind herself what Emma said to her. She took a sleeping pill to help her sleep and help the pills kick in. She made it to her bed and was only capable of writing take a good nap before falling asleep herself.

Mercedes woke a couple hours later feeling groggy and confused. She reached over and grabbed her pill bottle before getting out of bed. She grabbed her phone with her free hand and checked the date then rubbed her eyes. She'd slept through a day again but at least she felt as if she'd gotten a full days rest. She took a cup a water than swiftly swallowed a pill then made her way to the kitchen and stared into her fridge that had left over pancakes inside.

"I wonder if these are good." she sniffed the pancakes but put it back down when her cellphone rang. She smiled when she noticed the number and quickly slid her finger to answer it. "Hey!"

"You know I am starting to realize something."

"And, what's that?" Mercedes asked as she grabbed some leftover fruit and brought it to the living room.

"It seems if I don't call you that I won't hear from you."

"Mike." Mercedes muttered as she tried to think of how to explain to him that she needs a lot of sleep.

"I mean, it's okay, I find this whole thing challenging and I am game." Mike responded. She could just hear the smile on his face as he spoke.

"I'm sorry, Mike. I just haven't been feeling well..." she replied as she tried to find any piece of fruit that hadn't dried out. "But I am feeling a bit better now."

"Oh...do you think you're feeling good enough for a night out?" Mike asked as he waited on her to respond.

"Um...tonight?" she asked as she remembered she'd already took her medication for the night.

"Yeah, unless you've gotten tired of me already?" he asked. Mercedes thought about the last time they were together and how he'd surprised with a night she would never forget. She wondered how he'd top that night.

"I think I can enjoy some time with you."

"You think so, huh?"

"Yeah, I think I can." she added before making her way back to the kitchen to see if there was anything she could quickly scarf down. Unfortunately it looked like she hadn't shopped in a few days.

"Cool! See you in an hour, okay?"

"Alright, make sure you're not late this time." Mercedes reminded him as he chuckled and apologized before hanging up the phone. Mercedes stared at the phone then smiled before getting up and making her way to her closet and pulling out her little black dress and twirling with it. She paused when she felt a bit dizzy but decided to shake it off and prepare for her night out.

* * *

This time around, Mike arrived on time to pick Mercedes up. And just like last time, he told her that it was going to be a surprise. She still felt a bit dizzy but she wasn't going to let that stop her from enjoying time with Mike. The last time she could remember feeling this happy was when her mother and best friends were alive. She was deep in thought when Mike reached over and intertwined his fingers with hers.

"I really like you, Mercedes." he confessed causing her to blush as he brought her hands to his lips and placed a kiss on it then smiled her way. "Are you ready for tonight?"

"What's this?" Mercedes asked as she watched him turn into what looked like a dance club. She felt her heart racing as he parked and jumped out of the car with a smile on his face. "Let's dance." Mike took her hand and helped her out of the car. "You look beautiful in that dress, Mercedes."

"Really?" Mercedes questioned as they walked hand in hand towards the entrance of the club. Each step made Mercedes even more nervous but as he held her hand she felt a bit of confidence flow through her as she remembered the night on the stage. "Be bold, be brave." she whispered to herself as he ordered her a drink. Mercedes nervously looked around as people danced on the dance floor. She wished she could be just as carefree as they were. Mike handed her a drink then gulp his own down as he watched the crowd. Mercedes gulped hers down then looked over at him and forced a smile on her face.

"Come on, let's get crunk!" Mike shouted with excitement as he dragged her to the dance floor.

At first, Mercedes nervously shuffled her feet and looked around. She was still feeling a bit dizzy but she assumed it was due to the rush of everyone being around her. Mike on the other hand was channeling his inner Michael Jackson and Usher as he moon walked around her. He noticed her nervousness and took her hand in his. She started to move a bit more to the beat then closed her eyes as she allowed herself to feel free.

"Feel the music, baby!" Mike shouted over the music as she began to loosen up a bit more. She rocked and swayed to the beat then before she knew what was happening she was being carefree like everyone else. She felt as if her body was being lifted. Mike wrapped his arms around her and slowed her down till they were staring at each other. They slowly came to a slow pace as if they were in a world of their own. Every time she was with him he allowed her to forget all of her problems. He made her do things she never thought she was capable of doing or enjoying.

"I really like you, Mike." Mercedes heard herself confess to him in his ears before she moved back and looked him in the eyes. She prayed that he felt the same. That he wasn't playing around with her because she was falling for him and she wasn't sure if she could stop it. And she wasn't sure if she wanted to stop it either.

"I really like you too." he whispered back in her ear. They stared into each other eyes for what felt like forever before they shared a deep kiss.

* * *

After dancing the night away they ate and made their way back to Mercedes apartment. The entire time that they drove, Mercedes could feel as if she was being drained. She tried her hardest not to show Mike but he started noticing it the moment he parked the car in the parking lot.

"Are you okay, babe?" he asked as he looked over at her with concern. She forced a smile on her face then shook the dizziness off.

"I think I am just really tired. We kinda danced the night away tonight, you know?" she chuckled then reached for the door to open it. She needed to make her way inside and sleep before she completely lost it.

"Wait a minute, babe, let me get that for you." he said but she reached over and pulled him back in then kissing him softly.

"I'm okay...I can walk myself to the door." Mercedes responded before she opened the door and stepped out. "You can just watch me as I walk to the door." she added trying to be as flirtatious as she could be to convince him to stay. She hated him seeing her weakness. She didn't want anyone to see her that way. She walked away slowly, not because she was trying to be sexy, but because the world was spinning. She was three steps from her door when she looked back at Mike and smiled at him. She heard him start his car when she felt herself falling slowly to the ground. In slow motion she could hear Mike screaming her name and running towards her.

"Mercedes!" he screamed as he pulled out his phone and dialed 911 as he began shrieking into it. Before she completed faded away she heard him say: "My girl...she collapsed!"

* * *

Sam spent the entire day worried about Mercedes, but he continued to work and keeping busy. Every few minutes he would gaze at his watch. He couldn't wait till the minutes winded down and he could rush to see how she was doing. The was she was looking he shouldn't have left her alone. He looked over at his last client and shook his head. He shouldn't have left her.

"Hey, we need to reschedule. I have an emergency that just came up." Sam stated as he picked up his phone.

"Oh thank God!" Ken Tanaka exclaimed. Sam knew that he would be happy that Sam wanted to stop. For months Sam had worked him till he cried and Sam usually never cared one bit. No one was ever able to make him stop mid workout like Mercedes was.

"See you next week, actually." Sam added as he grabbed his things. "Don't pig out or you'll regret it next week." Sam added as he walked out of the gym. It was almost nine thirty and he'd finally started listening to his voice messages.

"Sam! Sam! Call me back it's an emergency!" Mike said in a panic. Sam rolled his eyes and deleted the message as he made his way to the car and listened to the next message. There were six messages, all of which were from Mike. "Sam, seriously, answer your Got damn phone!" Sam would usually rush to call Mike but he called everything an emergency. He got inside of his car and drove over to Mercedes. He would listen to the rest of the messages later to see what Mike really wanted.

When he made it to her house, he knocked a couple times and no one answered. He contemplated going around to look through her window but he did not want to scare her. He decided to head back to his car. As he made his way to his car, he noticed something he hadn't noticed before. He made his way over to get a closer look when his phone rang distracting him.

"Sup Mike?" Sam responded waiting to hear that Mike had once again locked himself out of the apartment or maybe even his car.

"Sam! Where have you been? I've been calling you over and over!"

"What's going on? Are you...okay?" Sam asked suddenly feeling concerned as he heard the sound of fear in his voice.

"I'm at the hospital."

"Whoa! Mike, you think you could of lead with that on the voice messages instead of just saying call me?"

"Sam, chill...listen!" Mike shouted causing Sam to stop and listen. "Remember the date I had tonight...the girl I told you about?" he asked and Sam could've sworn he sounded as if he was near tears.

"What happened? Is she okay?"

"No man...she almost died on me." Mike replied. Sam knew that Mike was interested in this girl that he was seeing but he didn't know if they were getting as serious as he was with Mercedes.

"Wow man, you must really care about her?"

"Yeah man, she's really special...look...I...uh...need you to help me." Mike sounded as if he'd been crying all night. Sam suddenly felt bad for thinking he was overreacting.

"Yeah...what's up?"

"I need you to pick up my car at her place and bring it here. I left it there and rode the ambulance with her." Mike replied. "I'll text you the address." he added then paused. "Hey I gotta go i think she's waking up...just text me when you're on the way. We're in room 235." Mike quickly hung up the phone. Minutes later, the phone vibrated and the address came up on his phone screen. Sam stared at the address a couple more times unsure what to think of it. He looked up and finally noticed Mike's car parked on the opposite side of the parking lot. Sam felt an uneasiness in his bones as he made his way over to the car. Could Mike's new girlfriend be the same woman that he was falling in love with? And if it was what was he going to do?


	7. Chapter 7

**I know I am late. Been dealing with absolutely nothing...I really have just been wasting time. LOL. I wrote this a while back just forgot to type it up.**

 **Suzie: Leave poor Emma alone**

 **Dayja: You're the inspiration behind Quack Emma...there's more to come with her later. Place ur review in your back pocket there's something you said there that is sort of predicting the future.**

 **Phatty: I know y'all hate cliffhangers lol**

 **Mowatts: Her help is coming...soon.**

 **Lamimi: There aint no real antipsychotics that cause ppl to act like that...I made all this up in my crazy head...so yeah I have no clue how psychotics work...that's why ur here to help me make it right lol**

 **Anyways...I have to sleep I have work in the morning...Gnite.**

* * *

Sam sat inside of Mike's car for hours before he finally pulled out of the parking lot. The entire time trying to think of any possible way that this was all a coincidence. Out of all the women in Lima, how was it possible that they both met the same woman? Sam couldn't believe the Mercedes that he had grown feelings for could be the same woman Mike was with. To begin with the woman Mike usually described didn't sound at all like the Mercedes he knew. But even with that, no matter what he thought of he couldn't shake that crazy feeling that he was about to either lose out on someone that he could possibly fall deeply for or lose his best friend. And at that moment, Sam wasn't ready to lose either of them.

"Where can I find the gift shop?" Sam asked the first nurse he bumped into. He wasn't sure if he was just buying time to avoid the inevitable or if he just knew deep down he was about to see Mercedes. He felt a knot in the pit of his stomach as the nurse pointed towards the far end of the hall without even looking his way. "Thank you." Sam said as he took slow steps in that direction. Once he reached the gift shop, he bought a teddy bear, a balloon and then stared at the flowers for a few minutes. "Am I buying too much?"

"Is it for a friend or a girl friend?" a short bubbly brunette asked him as she sprung out from behind the counter.

"Uh..." Sam shifted and smiled as he read her name tag. "That is a great question, Sugar!" And it was a question he thought he was on the verge of changing until all of this happened.

"Oh...it's one of those type of relationships, huh?" she asked as she cocked her head to side and smiled at him. Sam stared off as he tried to tell himself that he was thinking too much with too little facts. He needed to just man up and see who Mike was with in room 235. "Look, how about you get her these instead. I have yet to meet a woman that didn't love flowers." She walked over to a bouquet of Lilies and placed them in a vases before handing it to him. Sam shuffled through his pockets and pulled out his wallet just as she placed her hand to stop him. "It's on the house."

"Are you sure?"

"Go get her." Sugar said. Sam thanked her then sighed before making his way out of the gift shop. The moment he made it to the elevator he felt the knot in his stomach tighten even more. What the hell was he doing buying Mike's supposed girl friend flowers? What if he walked in there and she was not even Mercedes? He'd made himself believe that she was Mercedes that he had completely thrown out any possibility that she could really just be a stranger. And if it was Mercedes, did that still make her stranger that he just thought he known? A stranger that played two best friends to the point that they had no clue that they were falling for the same woman. Whatever the case was Sam knew he had to bite the bullet and meet the mystery woman finally.

"Here goes nothing!" Sam said to himself as he finally took steps towards the room. He could hear the sounds of his steps going along with the sounds of nurse chatter, machines beeping, families praying and his stomach turning. He reached the door and took a deep breath as he placed his hand on the door. He opened it slightly and heard the sound of Mike talking. Sam paused and took another deep breath before knocking on the door.

"Here he is...my best friend." Mike said with a bright smile on his face as Sam walked into the room and saw him holding Mercedes' hand. There she was smiling shyly at him as if she wasn't even slightly embarrassed or ashamed to be holding Mike's hand. Sam tried to keep his concentration on Mike but he couldn't tear his eyes off of Mercedes. "Sup man, thanks for making it here." He quickly hugged Sam then stepped back and looked at the flowers. "You bought her flowers?" he smiled and looked over at Mercedes. "Do you see why he's my best friend, baby?"

"Yeah." she replied. Mike quickly introduced the two of them but Sam couldn't get past the fact that Mike called her baby and she responded. "I've heard so much about you in the past few minutes." she added as she extended her hand over to him. Sam wasn't sure what was going on but he wasn't going to be the guy that accused a person in the hospital of being a liar.

"Hey man, are you okay?" Mike asked when he realized that Sam hadn't said a word since he stepped inside of the room. Sam finally snapped out of it and shook his head before reaching over and taking Mercedes' hand. He held it for few minutes then released it before he showed too much emotion.

"Uh yeah...sorry...I just uh...never know what to say... wish we were meeting under better circumstances...but...uh..." Sam managed to finally say before he looked over at Mercedes and smiled. "It's really good to finally meet you. Uh...these are for you." Sam managed to say before she took the flowers, took a long sniff and smiling up at Mike then over at Sam.

"These are beautiful, Sam." she said and Sam had to hold everything in him to avoid saying that they weren't anywhere near as beautiful as she was because Mike was staring at her in the way that he had only twenty hours ago.

"Not as beautiful as you are." Mike stated as Mercedes blushed. He walked over and kissed her on the lips then looked over at Sam. How was he supposed to get used to that? "I'm going to step out for a minute and talk to Sam for a minute, okay, babe?" Sam shifted as he watched Mercedes giggle then smiled over at Sam.

"Don't keep him out there too long now!"

"I won't." Sam responded then followed Mike out of the room. The moment they stepped out of the door Sam asked the only question that he knew he could ask. "So what the hell happened?"

"She's amazing, isn't she?" Mike asked as he looked at back at Mercedes as she continuously smelled her flowers that Sam had bought. "I don't know what or how but I really like her and because I pushed her tonight I almost killed her. I feel responsible for what she's going through right now. I pushed her too far."

"Look man, she's probably been dealing with this stuff and it all just came to ahead." Sam said as he tried make Mike feel a bit better. But he was more worried about Mercedes and if she was going to get better. "What did the doctor's say?" Sam asked.

"The doctor says she took some medication that has been on recall for a couple months. The medication mixed with the alcohol and the high of the night took a toll on her. She fell and now she's slowly starting to remember things."

"What do you mean...remember things?" Sam asked as Mike explained how she didn't even recognize him when she woke up.

"They ran a couple test on her and says that she's suffering from temporary memory loss. The doctor told me that I just needed to find something that would help jog her memory so I played the song she sang on our first date and just like that she started putting the pieces together." Mike smiled as he looked back at her then at Sam. "I know you wanna tell me that I am moving too fast with her but I really like her, man." Sam knew that if he'd say that then he'd be a big hypocrite because he moved even faster with her.

"Naw man...I get it. She's pretty cool...and pretty too." Sam added before nudging Mike.

"Keep your eyes off her. I saw her first." Mike nudged back and laughed. "Look, I'm going to stay here a bit longer. Might spend the night and wait till she is released." he looked back at Mercedes then over at Sam. "Thanks for bringing me the car." he stepped back and opened the door wider before smiling at Mercedes. "I'm back, babe! See you, Sam!"

"Bye Sam...and thanks for the flowers." she waved at him then turned her attention to Mike as they laughed about something. Sam looked at them and sighed as it all finally dawned on him. She didn't remember him at all. It wasn't a game. She wasn't a player that was playing them both. She only remembered Mike. And even though Sam met her first she only remembered Mike now. And Sam would have tried to help her remember him if his best friend wasn't in the room with her, looking at her as if she was his next breath of air. He had to say goodbye to the Mercedes that he knew and be the best friend that he'd always been to Mike.

* * *

\- One Week Later-

It had been seven days since Sam found out that his best friend had fallen for the woman that he'd fallen for as well. An entire week that Sam had taken his anger, sadness and hopelessness out on Tanaka. Every day he cries and begs Sam to give him a break but Sam never gave him a break till their time was up. And when that time came up, Sam took the rest of night to work out till he collapsed to the ground. Anything to keep his mind busy and occupied.

He did this for hours and daily all because he dreaded heading home. After being released from the hospital, Mike refused to let Mercedes go home alone. He feared that she might faint with no one to call 911. He took her to her appointments with her new psychotherapist and damn near everything. Although this helped Mike and Mercedes further their relationship, this was torturing Sam. Every night he'd tried coming home later and later in the evening in hopes that they wouldn't be in the living room and each night he'd be disappointed. Sam looked at the time on his cellphone before unlocking the front door slowly.

"It's three in the morning, so help me God they better not be in the..." Sam muttered as he opened the door and stopped at the sight of Mercedes walking over to the couch wearing shorts and a tank top with a bowl of ice cream in hand. "For the love of God." Sam mumbled under his breath as she turned around and looked at him like a mouse being caught by a cat. "Hey Mercedes."

"Sam...uh...I...couldn't sleep...and Mike is uh snoring..." she giggled then continued over to the couch and slumped down on it. "I feel kind of bad sleeping on his bed alone while he sleeps on that airbed on the ground." she added. Sam had learned early on that this Mercedes had completely forgotten that she was no longer a virgin. And Mike refused to push her into anything that she wasn't ready for.

"Trust me, there are many nights that he's come home and fell asleep on that same couch you're sitting on." Sam responded. He wanted to sit next to her and hold her. He wanted to ask her if she was feeling okay. He wanted to know how she was dealing with her memory loss and regaining it but instead he kept it all inside. "Anyway, you enjoy your ice cream. You have a good night, okay?"

"Goodnight Sam!" she replied with a smile as she continued to eat her ice cream. Sam took a quick cold shower to control the thoughts and memories that were flooding his mind. A few steps out there sat Mercedes in shorts that he'd seen her in before he'd pull them off of her. Now he had to pretend as if he hadn't seen her and tasted ever inch of her for the sake of his best friend.

When he stepped back outside she was no longer sitting on the couch. He made himself a bowl of cereal before heading back over to the sofa and turning the television back on. He threw the throw that was on the couch over himself and tried to drown his thoughts out with laughter. "What are you watching?" Mercedes asked causing Sam to stiffen up when he realized that she was within kissing distance of him.

"Uh...I don't know but it's really funny." he replied as he shifted. He turned around to look at her and found himself engulfed in her aroma. "Uh...I didn't make it hard for you to sleep, did I?" Sam asked as he placed a pillow over his growing erection.

"I've...actually...been struggling to sleep since the...you know..." she replied as if this were the first time she'd confessed that out loud. Sam looked over at her and reached over to squeeze her hand for comfort before removing his hand from hers. "So...scooch over and share some of that throw, would ya?" she pushed him a bit then sat next to him and placed the cover over her as well. Sam smiled and scooted over then stared at her as she laughed. "You know I can see you staring at me, right?" she asked before smiling over at him.

"My bad." Sam responded before looking away then looking at her again. "You ever feel like you've met someone before in some other life?" Sam asked. He knew he was risking a lot by trying to jog her memory but he just couldn't help it. She looked over at him as if she was racking her brain on how to answer the question.

"I am barely remembering Mike as my boyfriend." she replied then laughed. "I still can't believe I have a boyfriend."

"Why don't you believe it?" Sam asked even though he couldn't believe she was with Mike instead of him. "You're a very beautiful, smart and sweet woman. Anyone would be happy to have...you..." he paused then tried to find a way to change the subject. "I, uh, mean...Mike told me in high school you had a thing with the quarterback back when we went to school at McKinley."

"Wait...we went to school together?" she asked as she reached over and turned off the tv. "I had a quarterback boyfriend?" she asked as if the thought was completely unthinkable.

"Well...not necessarily a boyfriend...but you and Finn Hudson had something serious back in high school I think." Sam added hoping that maybe that would help her memory of him return and tell him more of what they had back then. Not that it would matter but he still wanted to know.

"Finn Hudson...his name kind of rings a bell." she mumbled to herself then looked over at him. "Were we friends in high school...no right? Since the first night you met me was at the hospital, right?" she asked. Sam wanted to answer that openly but he knew that he couldn't.

"Whose to say...we might have met before that." Sam responded then sighed when she smiled at him. "You weren't cool enough to hang with my crew." he joked as she playfully hit him. He quickly grabbed her hand and brought her closer to him and smiled. "You were part of the glee club." he added in a whisper before letting go of her hand.

"Oh yeahhhhh! That does ring a bell. Mike says I can really sing." Mercedes responded with a nod. "If glee club is like the tv show then I can see some coolness to it. You might have liked it if you had given it a chance. You could've surprised yourself." she responded.

"You've surprised me." Sam added as he felt himself inching towards her. She looked as if she was moving closer to him as well but stopped when the sound of the door opened behind them.

"Babe, what are you doing up?" Mike asked rubbing his eyes then looking at how close Sam and Mercedes were on the couch. "What's going on here?" he asked as he looked between the two of them.

"Uh...nothing...uh...I'm actually getting sleepy now." Mercedes replied as she stood up and made her way over to him. Sam felt his heart pounding out of his chest as he tried his hardest not to look at Mercedes as she walked by. She went into the bedroom and left Mike standing at the door staring at him. Sam could tell Mike wanted to ask questions but instead he turned and closed the door behind him. He needed to keep his distance from Mercedes because there was only so much he could do to stop himself from getting Mercedes back.


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright y'all here is the next chapter. I want to call this chapter 3's company too lol. Thanks for reading...How long do you all think Mercedes will last before she starts to remember Sam?**

 **How long before Mike figures out somethings brewing?**

 **How long before Sam says fuck it and fucks it lol?**

 **Dayja: Yes Mike got her to remember by playing the song and kinda cramsheshed memory lane with her. Your reviews always make me laugh**

 **Mowat: Emma had issues of her own lol**

 **Sweetie: so how long do you think Mercedes will last before she remembers Sam?**

 **Lamimi: I swear u made me laugh so hard when I read ur review.**

 **JuJu:Eventually that convo will be had.**

* * *

Mercedes stretched as she felt a ray of sunshine hit her eyes from an area of the window that the curtain didn't cover. She quickly covered her eyes as she used her free hand to pat around for her cellphone. With one eye opened she squinted to see that it was almost one in the afternoon. She needed to quickly get ready because she had to be at her appointment within the next hour. She had three text messages from Mike trying to remind her to take her medication and that he would be there to take her to her appointment. Mercedes lied back down and sighed as she scrolled through all the notifications that were on her phone.

He did this everyday, he and Sam would be out before she'd wake up and blow her phone up with messages. Mike was really sweet but he really made her feel as if she wasn't capable of caring for herself. She knew he did it all out of guilt because he felt that he was the reason she collapsed, but she needed to get back to being herself. She needed to be able to depend on herself and she needed Mike to understand that. She got up and rummaged through the drawer that he'd given her and picked out what she'd wear to her appointment then grabbed her robe. She made her way down the hall towards the bathroom and opened the door.

"Whoa!" Sam managed to say before spitting out the mouthwash that was in his mouth. Mercedes immediately turned away in shock as Sam stood completely naked in front of her. Although she'd turned away, she couldn't stop trying to peek over at him. He didn't even seem to try and hide it as he slowly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around him.

"I'm sorry...I didn't know...I...uh thought...oh my god!" she stuttered as her eyes looked right at the print that popped out in front of the towel. She couldn't understand why her eyes were so drawn to it and why she suddenly wanted to grab it.

"No...I'm sorry I should've locked the door." Sam said as he stepped out of the bathroom and allowed her to pass by. Mercedes tried to avoid looking at how the sun light made the water drops on his chest and abs glisten. Why the hell was she living with two of the sexiest men in Lima, she would never understand. "Hey...are you okay?" Sam asked as he stepped closer to her. Mercedes stepped back and placed her hand on his wet chest to stop him and felt a shiver run down her spine. Sam looked down at her hand on his chest and smirked up at her causing her to remove it from his chest.

"Uh...sorry...I'm okay. Bye!" she replied before closing the door then sliding down to the ground with her phone in hand. She quickly typed up a text message letting Mike know that she would take an uber to her appointment instead. She needed to get out of there. Living with two hot guys, one of them being the roommate of her new boyfriend, was just not going to help her with her quest to remain a virgin before marriage. She quickly showered then made her way back to the room to dress and pack hoping that she wasn't going to bump into Sam after her she awkwardly touched his wet body and saw him completely naked. By the time she made it out the door, she didn't see Sam but she received a call from Mike instead.

"Babe, what do you mean you're taking an uber? I'm already on my way back over there." Mike said immediately before she could even say hello.

"Mike...look, I really appreciate you going out of your way..."

"It's not out of my way. I want to be there for you and help you get better." Mike stated as he cut her off.

"You are helping me but I need to also help myself. I can do this, you know?" she asked as she heard him sigh. "I love spending time with you and staying at your place these past few days but I really think I need to head back home." Mercedes flagged her uber as it made its way to her. "I still feel really crappy about seeing you sleep on that floor, Mike." she added as she jumped into the car and smiled at the driver.

"Babe, I told you I don't mind it. There are some nights that I don't even make it to the bed." he admitted as she remembered Sam telling her that just last night on the sofa before Mike walked in on them.

"Yeah...Sam told me that." she admitted as she chuckled then stopped when she realized that Mike wasn't laughing along with her.

"When did he tell you that?" Mike asked.

"Last night when we were talking on the sofa." she replied. There was an awkward pause as she could tell that he wanted to ask more but instead he sighed again.

"Look, go to your appointment and try to come back, please. I won't baby you anymore but I will feel more comfortable if me or Sam is around just in case something happens." She debated over what he suggested and immediately saw Sam's naked wet body. The last thing she needed was to run into Sam naked again but she had to admit having them around had been better for her then her staying home alone.

"Mike...I really need to be away for a bit. I can't just live with two guys. This isn't three's company too!" she chuckled nervously as the driver looked at her from the rear view mirror. He was probably thinking that she was sleeping with both of them and not a virgin waiting for marriage. "Can you keep your eyes on the road please? I have anxiety issues." she stated to the driver as he placed his eyes back on the road.

"Okay, how about you come back and stay for another week and then I will feel a bit better about causing you to almost die."

"Miiiiiiike!" she whined his name.

"I know...I know...you say it's not my fault but I feel like it is so...please..." he begged as the driver hopped onto the highway.

"Okay...okay...I'll call you later."

"You're coming by afterwards, right?" he asked. Mercedes couldn't help but love how much he cared about her and wanted her around. She was afraid that they were moving too fast but for the life of her she couldn't say no to him to save her life.

"Yes Mike...I will be there later."

"Alright...be safe." he added before hanging up. Mercedes smiled at the picture she had of her and Mike on the screen before locking the screen and staring out the window. She had a boyfriend that really cared about her. She needed to make sure she didn't do anything to jeopardize that.

* * *

"So you saw him naked...how did that make you feel?" Mercedes was asked as she explained her day to her new doctor. Mercedes had to get used to seeing this new doctor as she did things completely different from Emma Pillsbury. Dr. Fabray, was a modelesque woman that looked way too young to be her doctor but she knew her stuff. She made Mercedes feel comfortable from day one. And she held nothing from Mercedes. Her blunt honesty was something that Mercedes wasn't used to at first but she soon realized it was something she needed.

"Why do you always ask me that, Dr. Fabray?"

"I told you to call me Quinn, Mercedes, plus I get paid to ask that question." she smiled as she tapped her pen on her notepad. Mercedes tried to find the right way to answer that question. She still wasn't sure how she felt about it. What was really rattling her was not the fact that this was the first time she seen a man in full nude. What rattled her was that she liked what she saw and that it seemed natural to look at him. The smirk on his face didn't help things either. "Now, I can tell by the look on your face that it made you feel a certain way. Do you feel that this may make things awkward between your boyfriend and his roommate?"

"I still can't believe I have a boyfriend." Mercedes chuckled. "I mean think about it. Where do you here a girl collapses on a date and he decides to treat her like a princess?"

"Do you enjoy being treated like a princess?"

"I enjoy it but I am not used to it." Mercedes finally admitted. "My mother is the only person that ever treated me like a princess. And I've never really had a boyfriend back in high school or ever. So all of this is new for me and I just feel..." she paused as she tried to find the words to explain.

"You're afraid that you might get too used it and then you no longer have Mike to treat like a princess, right?" Quinn asked as she removed her glasses and smiled at Mercedes. Mercedes shrugged as a tear started to form in her eyes. "Mercedes, you have to accept the fact that it is not a surprise that Mike is fawning over you. You're beautiful and you've been through so much, he'd be a fool not to want to hold on tight to you." she walked over and held Mercedes hand before smiling at her. "So let him. Enjoy it! And if his sexy roommate flashes you again..."

"He didn't flash me." Mercedes responded cutting her off with a smile as the tear slid down her cheeks.

"Whatever happened...what happens...enjoy it." Quinn added before getting up and walking over to her notepad and placing her glasses on. "So...let's talk about your medications. How have you been on the new medication?"

* * *

Sam sat in his car and stared at the apartment he shared with his roommate and his new girlfriend, who happened to be the girl he thought would have been his own. After Mercedes saw him in the nude earlier that day Sam couldn't stop thinking about how he wished that moment had gone. When she placed her hand on his chest he couldn't help the smirk that crept on the corner of his lips. He wanted to pin her against the bathroom wall and kiss her before lifting up one of her legs before plunging deep inside of her. But instead he allowed her to slam the door in his face. And now he was dreading entering his home yet again.

His cellphone vibrated as Mike's name came across the screen. He wondered if she'd told Mike about seeing him naked, but that would have been a phone call not a text message. He frowned as he read the messaged that said that Mercedes might not be there that night. Deep down he loved seeing her when he walked in the part that he hated was seeing her with Mike. But if she went home then he had no reason to stay in his car. He got out of the car then made his way to door silently wishing things were different.

He wished he had gotten to Mercedes first. He wished he could tell her that they were together first, but at what cost? What if she was already deeply in love with Mike? What if he reminded her of him and that drives her completely insane or worse she denies it and Mike believes her over him? If he kept bumping into her like he has it would only get worst than earlier. Sam knew he couldn't let that happen again. He needed to find a way to turn off his emotion for her. Or make her not like him at all. He was so deep in thought that he didn't even realize that he'd been fumbling with his keys for an entire minute.

"You need help with that?" he heard her say. He could hear the smile in her voice even with his back to her. He felt the corner of his lips beginning to curl up but checked himself as he took a deep breath and looked over at her briefly.

"Nah...I got it." he grunted as he unlocked the door as she struggled with her bags that she had packed to head back home. Sam wanted to help her but he really needed to sell the act. So he walked in left the door partially opened instead of holding it for her or grabbing her bag.

"Hey babe!" Mercedes greeted as she struggled inside of the apartment. Mike noticed her struggling and how Sam was just acting as if he didn't notice her struggling.

"Sam...the hell dude, you could have helped her with the bags." Mike said as he rushed over to her and quickly took the heaviest bag.

"Miiiike..." she stressed his name as he plopped a kiss on the lips Sam wished he could get a taste of again. He tried not to look their way as he made his way to his room. He could hear Mike apologizing then the sound of them kissing and Mercedes giggling. "Mike...Sam might here us." she said before hearing their bedroom door slam shut.

Sam tried his hardest to calm his nerves, especially since he knew all they would do in there was make out. But the sound of her giggling was getting on his nerves so he decided to get up and head back out to his car. A quick drive around the block and back would definitely help. He knew Mike more than he knew himself and the minute he was on his bed he was minutes from sleeping. Sam hoped that when he finally came back that they would both be asleep. Hours later he was back and inside of the kitchen staring inside of the fridge.

"You have a thing about staring at things?" Sam heard Mercedes asked. Again he could hear the smile in her voice. Again it made a smile appear on his face. He took a deep breath before grabbing a bottle of water then slamming the door shut.

"You have a thing about creeping up behind me?" he asked as he leaned against the kitchen sink and twisted the cap off the bottle of water. Mercedes walked over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water as well then leaned next to him.

"Funny." she chuckled before drinking some of the water.

"I didn't say a joke." Sam responded as he did the same. Every part of him wanted to lift her up against the sink but he kept his calm. He kept his gaze straight but he could feel her looking at him with that same smile from when he first met her. If there was a better time to remind her of what they had, this would be that time but instead he kept his act. "You have a thing about staring too, huh?" he asked then looked over at her as she chuckled.

"You know I didn't tell Mike about our little incident earlier today."

"Why not?" Sam asked. He knew Mike really well but he had not idea what he would do if he knew. Sam knew and he was still struggling with the whole situation.

"It was a small accident." Mercedes said waving it off as if it were nothing at all.

"There was nothing small about it." Sam quickly responded and almost lost his stoic demeanor as he caught her eye lingering down towards his package. She shook her head and sighed before placing her water bottle on the counter.

"You know you kind of remind me of someone that I can seem to completely remember. Like I remember pieces of him. And it seems like my brain wants me to remember more but I just can't get there, you know?" she looked over at him then placed her hands on her temple and rubbed it. "I'm getting better...and I can thank you and Mike for that." she finally said then shook her head as if it were nonsense. "I can't wait to get all my memory back." she added then made her way out of the kitchen. Sam watched her walk out of the kitchen and once she was out of ear shot he finally spoke.

"I can't wait till you get it back either." and when she does, he wasn't sure if he or Mike would be ready. To be quite honest it was obvious that Mercedes wasn't going to be ready for it either.


	9. Chapter 9

**Alright y'all here comes the next chapter. I'd like to call this chapter Glee Reunion lol...you will see why soon.**

 **Zini: So you want Sam to just put it out there lol**

 **Phatty: I want her memory to come back soon too...it's coming**

 **Lamimi: Girrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl lol**

 **Juju: Shit is going to hit the fan soon**

 **Bruna: maybe lol**

 **Sweetie: LAWDDDD I never saw ur review till now and I am dying lol**

 **Dayja:OMG LMFAOOOOOO**

 **Mowatts: she's going home soon**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing y'all.**

* * *

Mercedes felt the sun hit her face as if someone had pull the blinds apart. She groaned and quickly covered her eyes with the covers till she smelled the bacon that was cooking. She threw the covers aside then looked at herself in the mirror, ran her hands through her hair then stepped out into the living room. She could hear Sam humming in the kitchen as she took steps towards the kitchen. The whole scene seemed like it all happened before. She stopped and placed her hand on her forehead then took a deep breath before continuing to the kitchen then stopping to watch him cook.

"Are you hungry?" he asked without turning around.

"Um...yeah sure...what ya cookin'?" she asked she leaned on the counter. Sam turned around and showed her the bowl he was whisking. "Can I have mine sunny side up?" she asked with a smile.

"Make it yourself. You're not handicapped, princess." he responded before pointing towards the carton of eggs. Mercedes stared at Sam in shock as she slowly made her way over to the egg carton. "Just kidding, Mercedes, gimme those eggs before you break something."

"You think you're so funny." Mercedes responded as she handed him the eggs then playfully swatted him as he tried to dodge her blows.

"Ouch! Do you want me to burn your eggs?" Sam asked as he held her hand away. She paused as she looked into his laughing eyes and lost her ability to move suddenly. "That's what I thought." he added with a smirk before she quickly pulled her hand away. He kept his eyes on her before he asked her how she wanted her toast. She felt lost in his eyes as a chill ran up her spine. She never got the chance to answer the question when the front door opened and Mike walked in carrying coffee for the three of them.

"Hey babe!" Mike said as he walked in and closed the door with his foot. "Sup Sam...got us some joe from the Bean." he added with a bright smile as he placed a kiss on Mercedes cheek. "How'd you sleep, babe?"

"Uh...I slept okay...I'm...uh..." she nervously looked over at Sam then back at Mike and placed a force smile on her face. "I need to go freshen up."

"Hurry back before this gets cold." Sam said as she walked out leaving them in the kitchen. She quickly made her way to the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She leaned against the door and closed her eyes as she tried to make sense of the flashes she kept seeing of Sam. Everything was starting to feel like dejavu but she knew none of this had ever happened before. She splashed cold water on her face and stared at her reflection as she mentally told herself to get it together.

* * *

Sam knew he was pushing it when he gazed into her eyes. He wanted to pull her in for a kiss and carry her into his bedroom but he knew he couldn't. And if Mike was a few minutes later, Sam would've of not been able to hold himself. Not to mention she was looking at him in the same ways she'd look at him when she was only his. Now here he was cooking breakfast for his best friend and his best friend's girl.

"Sam, you won't believe who I bumped into at the Lima Bean." Mike stated as he started to fix himself a plate. "Is this for Mercedes?" he asked as pointed towards the Sunny side up eggs.

"Yeah...and her toast over there." Sam pointed before making his way to the dining room. "So who did you bump into?" he asked just as Mercedes came out of the bathroom.

"Tina Cohen-Chang and Artie Abrams!" he said with a wide smile as he made way with both plates in hand as he tried to balance them all.

"No shit?" Sam exclaimed as Mercedes tried to reach for one of the things Mike was trying to balance.

"Let me help you with that?" Mercedes volunteered.

"I got this babe. Just sit your pretty self down and enjoy like the princess you are." Mike said as he tried to pull out her chair with his foot and still hold on to her plate. Sam shook his head and tried to hold in the laughter that wanted to escape his lips. Mike was so riddle with guilt that he just overdid it sometimes and Sam could see Mercedes becoming annoyed by it.

"So...uh...who's Tina and Artie?" she asked as she placed an obvious forced smile on her face then looked between Sam and Mike.

"His ex girlfriend from high school." Sam interjected.

"Oh...did I know them back at McKinley?" Mercedes asked as she looked over at Mike. He looked at her as if she were asking an insane question then shrugged his shoulders.

"How would I know?"

"Sam told me that you said I went to the same school that you all went to, right?" she asked and looked over at Sam as he looked between the two and stuffed his face. Mike looked over at Sam in total confusion but went along with the story.

"Oh yeah...I probably did tell him that." he admitted. "Uh...so what else did I tell you?" he asked as he looked over at Sam.

"He told me that the people I hung out with weren't cool enough to hang with you cool people. Something about you all hating the glee kids."

"Oh Tina was in glee and she was my girlfriend throughout high school...so that isn't true. I loved glee." he shook his head in denial.

"Lies." Sam laughed. "How many of those glee kids did we slushy? You probably slushied Mercedes."

"Never!" Mike quickly responded as Mercedes looked over at him in shock. "Don't listen to him." He added before throwing a napkin at Sam. "Anyways, Tina says that they are having a memorial "Celebration of Life" tonight for Finn Hudson and all of our friends we'd lost due to car accident. She wants us to come."

"Us?"

"Yeah, I want to go in honor of Finn and I want to show off my beautiful girl as well." he reached over and kissed her on the lips as Sam tried his hardest to look away. If this was how he things were going to be he was not about to go to this memorial party and watch Mike and Mercedes get their Mikecedes on.

"I think I'll pass." Sam added causing the both of them to look his way. "Last thing you all need is a third wheel." Sam looked at Mercedes and forced a smile on his face as she does when she was pretending to be happy. "You two go have fun."

"Are you insane? Tina would kill me if I came without you. Why don't you just bring that girl you've been seeing?" Mike asked innocently. "Babe, Sam fell in love with one of his clients. Something he swore to me he'd never do." Mike laughed as he stuffed his face. Sam watched as Mercedes forked her eggs around as she listened to Mike explain how in love Sam was.

"So...what happened to her?" Mercedes asked. Sam stared at her, wishing he could just tell her what really happened. But instead he looked over at Mike and shrugged.

"Guess I wasn't as lucky as Mike was." he replied. "Tell Tina I'm sorry." Sam added before grabbing his plate and making his way to the kitchen. Mike reached over and grabbed him, pulling him back down.

"Nope, you're coming. You owe me." Mike said as Sam sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"Why does he owe you?" Mercedes asked as she looked between the two. Sam shook his head knowing exactly what Mike was referring to.

"Will I ever live this down?" Sam asked as Mike quickly shook his head as they laughed. Sam couldn't believe that the two of them could even laugh about this, but they've been through so much together that everything made them laugh.

"What did he do?" Mercedes asked Mike then looked at Sam as they both shared a laugh. "What? What did you do, Sam?"

"Sam dated Tina."

"I...I did _not_ date Tina!" Sam quickly responded as Mercedes stared at him in shock. "Seriously, we didn't date."

"You dated his girlfriend?" Mercedes asked. In so many ways Sam wanted to say yes and she was that girlfriend but instead he shrugged. "And you two are just laughing it off like it's nothing?"

"We really only made out."

"Okay...okay...to be fair, she wasn't my _girlfriend per se,_ we were broken up for a full year and I was out of town with my family. And she found comfort in Sam here." Mike admitted. Sam shook his head at the irony of it all. Tina wasn't his girlfriend then and Mercedes really isn't his girlfriend now.

"And you're just okay with it all?"

"Sam is my best friend, babe. There isn't anything that he can do that will make me hate him...but he swore on his life that he owed me one. And I'm finally cashing in, babe!"

"Alright alright alright! I guess I have no choice!" Sam responded as they both continued to laugh. Mercedes just sat there and watched them laugh. Sam could see the sadness in her eyes which caused him to finally stop laughing. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...I guess I just miss having a friendship like that." she admitted. Mike sat down and wrapped his arms around her as she leaned her head on his shoulder. Sam wished he could console her but instead he just sat back and watched Mike do what he was meant to do.

"How about we go buy you a nice dress for tonight? Tina says Rachel wants it to be formal like prom or some crap like that."

"She's still holding on to sixteen, ain't she?" Sam asked as he took all of their plates to the kitchen.

"Hey you're the one that dated her." Mike reminded him. Mercedes looked over at Sam as he walked back out of the kitchen and shook her head.

"Is there anybody that you didn't date?"

"Ha ha ha!" he said mockingly as Mike and Mercedes laughed at him. "It was high school...don't judge me."

"No judgments, just make sure you're ready to go at eight." Mike instructed as he and Mercedes made their way to his bedroom. Sam sighed as he watched them disappear behind Mike's door and mentally prepared himself for being the third wheel at an event he really didn't want to attend.

* * *

It took them hours for Mercedes to find the right dress for the evening and Mike decided to give her the full prom experience. He took her to get her nails and hair done, while he just stuck around to pay. She nervously asked him questions about McKinley hoping it would prepare her for the night. She didn't want anyone that knew her back then to know that she lost her memory. She didn't want to see that look of pity people usually had when they hear she lost everything and everyone she loved. She wanted to enjoy tonight as if it really were her prom night.

Later that evening, Mercedes got ready in Mike's bedroom as Sam and Mike waited patiently for her in the living room. She could hear them joking and laughing about their high school years and moments they had with Finn Hudson before he passed away. She stared at herself in the mirror as flashes of her memories flickered in front of her eyes. She saw herself in her purple prom dress as her best friends looked on and tried to tell her that tonight was going to be their night. She was going to make her move that night.

"Babe, we gotta get going?" Mike shouted causing her to snap out of her trance. She ran her hands down her dress then fluffed her hair before making her way to the door.

"I'm coming." she opened the door and stepped out of the room as she placed her earrings on and smiled at them. Sam and Mike both looked her at her in awe as she smiled shyly. "How do I look?" she asked and patiently waited for them to comment. "Is this to red carpet?" she asked as she looked down at the body hugging sleek black dress that fell to her freshly manicured toes.

"You look..."

"Amazing!" Sam finished then stopped as Mike looked his way then back at Mercedes.

"You both look as dapper as ever." she responded as she held her heels in hand then walked over to use them to keep her balance. "Let's party!" she smiled as looked between the two of them.

The entire ride there Mercedes continued to ask questions about McKinley. Once they arrived outside of the event Mercedes stared at the door as if it were the last moments of her life. Mike reached over and gave her hand a squeeze and nodded as she forced a smile on her face. Sam jumped out and opened the door for her and just stood at the door with his hands in his pocket. She placed one foot out of the car then looked up just as Sam extended one to her. She smiled up at him and took it before completely stepping out of the car just as Mike came around and took her other hand. They walked hand and hand inside of the event each step causing her to feel more nervous than the last.

"It's going to be okay." Sam whispered just as an Asian woman came stomping towards them.

"Oh...my...God! Mercedes Jones!" she squealed as she wrapped her arms around Mercedes, pushing Sam and Mike aside. "This is perfect! Perfect!"

"Uh Babe, this is Tina...remember from Glee." Mike said.

"Oh shut it Mike! She remembers me. We were best friends when she was a sophomore and I was a freshman. We sang so many songs together." Tina rambled as Mercedes pretended to remember. "You look amazing and you have no idea how happy I am that you are here."

"I'm happy to be here too." Mercedes managed to say as she looked back at Mike and Sam for assistance.

"Great! Because You're the best singer that ever sang at this school and I need someone to fill in a slot because one of my performers flaked on me."

"Uh excuse me!" a whiny voice said that caused everyone to look in her direction. Rachel Berry walked past Mike and Sam then stood in front of Mercedes with a sinister smile on her face. For some reason, Mercedes never forgot Rachel Berry. The one person that made high school a living hell for her. Everything she ever wanted Rachel always fought to get it even when she didn't even care for it. "If you were to ask Mr. Schuester..."

"No one cares about your husband's opinion." Tina interjected. "Mercedes is going to sing Finn's song." Mercedes just stood there in silence as Tina and Rachel went at it. She looked over at Mike and Sam again wishing they would interject as well.

"Excuse me?"

"Why do you keep saying that? Just excuse yourself, Rachel." Tina stated.

"Did you forget that she's the reason he got into that accident!" Rachel stated as she glared at Mercedes. "Not to mention Kurt and Santana...everyone that comes around her gets hurt in an accident!"

"ENOUGH RACHEL!" Sam stated finally speaking up causing Rachel to look his way. Mercedes was happy that Sam said something because she was minutes from mollywopping the hell out of Rachel Berry.

"I think Finn would want me to..."

"You have no idea what he would want!" Tina stated.

"Okay okay ladies...no fighting!" Mike finally said as he stood between Tina and Rachel. He turned to look at Mercedes as she tried to calm herself down. Everything Rachel said was right. It was all coming back to her. It was all her fault. "Are you okay, Babe?" he asked as she nodded.

"Yeah."

"Why are you asking her if she is okay? We didn't do anything to her but tell the truth." Rachel stated.

"Look, Mercedes has a condition..."

"Mike!" Mercedes pushed him then looked over at Tina. "Show me where the stage is...I'll sing Finn's song!" she added as she glared at Rachel. Everyone parted as she made her way towards the stage. Each step she took was as if she was walking down memory lane. Pieces that had been missing for so long were coming back as she finally took the stage and look out into the crowd. She stared right at Rachel as she took a deep breath then scanned the room.

"Hey everybody, I'm Mercedes Jones...I...uh...went to school here. My life was here and..." she paused as she felt a bit choked up. "I lost a lot of people I loved." She looked at Rachel and sighed before she continued. "My best friends Kurt and Santana, my momma...and Finn Hudson." she smiled as a picture of the both of them appeared behind her. "This was his song."

"Oh...why you look so sad...tears are in your eyes...come on and talk to me, now..." she continued to sing the song as tears fell from her eyes as memories of her mother, Kurt, Santana and Finn began to flood her. Prom night when he broke her heart and she hated him till she found out he'd gotten into a bad accident and didn't survive it. "I'll stand by you...baby even to your darkest hour...and I'll never desert you...I'll stand by you." she sang out the last note and smiled as everyone began to applaud her.

Mike reached her as she made her way to the end of the stage and hugged her. She hugged him back, mainly because she needed it. She still was mad at him for what he did earlier but he was there and she needed the hug. She looked over his shoulder and noticed Sam staring at them over the rim of the glass cup he was drinking. For some reason she wanted to hug him instead.

* * *

Sam had never seen her sang like that before. She usually just playfully sang when they hang around each other but the way she was singing, at that moment, pure power. So much passion. Sam needed to know what happened between her and Finn. He also wanted to know if she would remember him now since it seemed she was starting to remember her past. He took a step towards the stage but stopped once saw Mike had already beat him to her. Sam watched as they hugged as he sipped his drink.

"Hey Sam, are you okay?" Tina asked as she looked at what he was staring at. "Oh...I'm guessing you're not okay."

"I'm cool." he lied as he placed his drink down then looked over at Tina. If he was still the same Tina that he remembered then she would know everything he needed to know. "Do you know what happened to Finn? I mean outside of the whole car accident story?"

"Yeah...he came to prom that night with Rachel and then he saw Mercedes...they had a conversation and Rachel interrupted it. Mercedes left and he went after her...but don't ask Rachel what happened. She'll tel you something completely different. You really need to ask Mercedes." Tina replied as they watched Rachel arguing with Mr. Schuester. "Isn't it kind of nasty that he ended up marrying her?" Tina shook her head as she walked over to where Mike and Mercedes were dancing. Sam watched as they exchanged a few words then Mike pointed to Sam before he started dancing with Tina.

"Here goes nothing." Sam said to himself as he walked over to Mercedes and gave her a lopsided smile. "Crazy night, huh?"

"Yeah...I'm starting to remember some things." Mercedes replied as she looked around at everyone slow dancing.

"Would you...uh like to dance?" Sam asked as he extended his hand to her. She stared at it as if it held her future in it. She slowly took his hand then placed her other on his shoulder. He wrapped his other arm on the small of her back then smiled down at her. "You were amazing up there. Your mother would be proud." Sam stated as she shyly smiled at him.

"Yeah, she would have been. She was always pushing me to do things that I was too scared to do." she shook her head and smiled as she continued. "She told me to make Finn choose. She thought he would pick me. I kinda thought he would too." she confessed.

"Any man with the right mind would've." Sam stated as she looked into his eyes. "I would have picked you." he confessed as he stared into her eyes as well. She was on the verge of responding when Mike came over and interrupted them.

"Thanks man." he said as he waited for Sam to move. Sam sighed as he slowly released her hand then nodded towards Mike.

"I think I'm going to head on home." Sam stated. "I have an early morning."

"Alright, thanks Sam." Mike tapped him on the shoulder as he guided Mercedes in the opposite direction. Sam watched as they walked away then smiled when Mercedes turned and looked back at him again. The look in her eyes told him that he couldn't hold how he felt about her any longer. And soon she would remember him too.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everybody, yesterday was my birthday so I couldn't update then but here I is...(yeah I said IS) anyway...here's the next part that I would like to call 2009,2015,2016. I mixed a little cannon in here so somethings might remind u of glee but i switched it up a bit.**

 **Now to answer some questions from the reviews:**

 **Msei09: Mercedes lost her best friends and her mother. This chapter should help you understand.**

 **Dayja: What happened to Finn, Santana and Kurt? read on**

 **And y'all be patient Samcedes will reunite...Im a samcedian so u know it's coming...**

* * *

 _Mercedes stared at her reflection in the mirror as she mentally tried to prepare herself for the night. If weren't for her two best friends and her mother she would have been curled up in bed watching another rerun on the television. But they'd already bought the prom tickets, they'd already rented the limo and made reservations at Breadsticks. Santana was not about to miss out on endless breadsticks night. Mercedes looked behind her as Kurt helped Santana zip up her clingy red dress as they argued as usual._

 _"Mercedes, quit hogging the mirror! I needs to check myself out and pencil my eyebrows on." Santana said as she stomped over and playfully pushed Mercedes aside._

 _"Soooo...do you guys think I look good enough to give a guy an ultimatum?" Mercedes asked as she placed her hand on her hip and struck a pose waiting on Kurt to comment._

 _"Mercedes, if Finn doesn't date you...I will!"_

 _"Brittany would kill me."_

 _"Then I will date you, Diva." Kurt said with a smile._

 _"Remember when I thought that was a possibility?" Mercedes asked with a chuckle as she made her way back in front of the mirror beside a laughing Santana._

 _"I don't know how in the world you mistook Kurt's friendship with flirting."_

 _"I don't how she even believed that I would like Rachel freaking Berry."_

 _"I can't believe we both had a crush on Finn."_

 _"I had Finn and trust me, he was one of the reasons I ran to the other side." Santana lied as she penciled in her eyebrows. Mercedes wasn't sure how she never stopped liking Finn. She still couldn't believe that they secretly had a thing. The same secret that her two best friends knew about and encouraged her to make him exclusively hers. But then there was Berry. She couldn't get him to be honest about her and tonight she was going to either put in end to it all or begin something beautiful. Santana looked over at Mercedes as she frowned and stared down at her dress. She could tell Mercedes was having doubts but she was not about to let her friend do that. "Look girlfriend, he wasn't good for me 'cause we both like the cooch, but I've seen you with him and he loves you. He's just too scared to admit it 'cause of Berry but he'll man up tonight. Trust me." she finished off with a wink before continuing to pencil her eyebrows._

 _"For the first time tonight I have to say that I agree with Satan..."_

 _"Watch it!" Santana glared at him._

 _"Seriously, Mercedes, if he doesn't pick you...promise me tonight that you won't let it ruin your night." Kurt stated as he looked over at her and waited on her to say that she promised. She sighed and nodded as she looked at her two best friends. "Say it."_

 _"I promise."_

 _Minutes later, they all made their way downstairs where Mercedes' mother waited with her camera in hand to record the moment. Kurt was the first to head down the stairs as he struck a couple poses for her. She took a couple shots all the while laughing at Kurt's antics. Mercedes smiled as she heard her mother's hearty laugh and pushed Santana forward to go down next. Santana sashayed over to the top of the stairs and showed the backless side of her dress before turning and going down the stairs._

 _"Work it, girl!" her mother said in between shots as Santana made her way down the stairs. "Okay now where's my baby girl! Come on lemme see you, baby!" she shouted as Mercedes took a deep breath and stepped out to the steps. Her mother gasped as if she had never seen Mercedes in a dress before. Or maybe it was the makeover that Kurt and Santana gave her for the night. She had to admit they did a hell of a job, she could barely recognize herself. "Look at my baby!" she said as she handed the camera to Santana and quickly wiped a tear that escaped._

 _"Don't cry mom, you know that makes me cry!" Mercedes smiled as she tried to hold back tears. "You know I gotta keep this face on for what I'm about to face."_

 _"You gon knock the breath out that boy, trust yo mama now." Her mother said as she played with the curls in her hair. "If he chooses that crazy girl over you then he wasn't worth your time anyway. And you bet not let him ruin this night. It's not about him. It's about you not being afraid of going after something that you want! Remember that, okay?"_

 _"That's right Mama Jones!" Santana interjected as she snapped a picture of the two. They all took a couple more pictures together before Mercedes hugged her mother one more time._

* * *

 _They walked in with smiles on their faces as they rocked to the beat of a couple of the football players singing Friday by Rebecca Black. Santana was the first to head to the dance floor as Brittany came over and took her hand. Mercedes nervously reached down and took Kurt's hand just as she noticed Finn dancing with Rachel on the dance floor. She was happy that Kurt was there with her as she needed the support. Luckily for her, Kurt's crush went to a different school and told him that he couldn't make it. Kurt squeezed her hand and rubbed it before pulling her towards the dance floor._

 _"Come on, Diva! Let's dance!" Kurt shouted over the music as he dragged her to the middle of the dance floor. Mercedes shook her head and laughed as she followed behind him and tried to avoid looking at Finn. As they danced, she could feel that he was looking her way. She looked over and they immediately locked eyes. He continued to dance with Berry as he mouthed to her that she looked really nice. Mercedes blushed but continued to dance with Kurt. Each time she would look his way she would catch him staring at her. She could hear her mother saying "Stop playing around and just do it." Kurt noticed her looking towards Finn and smiled as he walked over to where they were dancing._

 _"Kurt...you better not..." Mercedes threatened but it was too late as she watched Kurt say something to Berry and immediately she became angry. Before following behind her he said a few words to Finn then pointed towards Mercedes. She watched as Kurt followed Berry then Finn started to walk towards her. She swayed a bit and pretended that she didn't see him heading her way._

 _"Hey Mercedes...you look beautiful." Finn said when he reached her. She continued to dance and smiled at him. "Can we go somewhere and talk?" he asked. Mercedes looked at him then over at Santana who was giving her the thumbs up from across the room. "I really need to talk to you and I can't do that here because..."_

 _"Yeah...yeah...sure we can...uh...sure." Mercedes reached over and grabbed his hand as she walked in the opposite direction of where Berry went. She tried to calm herself and mentally prepare what she would say to Finn. This was the moment. She was either about to lose him or gain him. She opened the door and they both walked out to the hallway where no one was standing then just stared at each other nervously. "So uh...what did you need to talk to me about?" she asked as Finn stared at her awkwardly._

 _"Uh...I'm happy you came tonight...you really look beautiful tonight."_

 _"Yeah...but you came here with Berry."_

 _"Yeah...only because she kind of begged me to..."_

 _"But after what you wrote in my yearbook...I thought that was your way of saying that what we had..."_

 _"I do think that, Mercedes." he quickly said as he grabbed her hands. "Things are just complicated with Berry, right now. We need her to win nationals and we all know she won't perform if I tell her about...us."_

 _"That's bullshit, Finn!" Mercedes said as she snatched her hand from his. She was tired of hearing that lame excuse from Mr. Schuester and especially from Finn. "Sure we need her only because we need twelve members, but we do not need her to win. I am tired of having to suffer just because people are to afraid of hurting her feelings."_

 _"Mercedes..."_

 _"What about my feelings, huh, Finn?" she asked as tears began to run down her face. "Have you ever even considered my feelings? If I am hurt?"_

 _"You're stronger than her, Mercedes." he replied as if it finally dawned on him that she was hurt by it all._

 _"I seem strong, don't I? At the end of the day, I am still human and I have feelings just like she does." Mercedes admitted before taking a deep breath. "But you know what, I deserve better. And if you think you need her to win...try winning without me." she finished as she brushed passed him. He pulled her hand to stop her but she snatched her hand away from his. "Don't pull me back unless you're ready to man up, Finn." she demanded. And for a second she thought that he was but then Rachel appeared in the hall and called out his name. "Just go, Finn. Your silence is telling me everything I needed to know." Mercedes ran out of there and pulled out her cellphone to call her mother. "Mom...I know I promised, but..." she sniffled into the phone._

 _"It's okay baby girl...I'm on my way."_

* * *

 _-2015-_

 _"Every year, we go on a trip and you think you can avoid the trip by ignoring your momma's calls?" Mercedes heard her mother say from behind her bedroom door. She looked around the living room where tear soaked tissues were everywhere. On the television, she watched videos she'd had of Finn when he would secretly come over and spend time with her. She did this every year in honor of the night he died. No matter what people said she felt responsible for his death. After she left prom, he'd argued with Rachel and ran after her only to get into an accident that took his life. They never won nationals. She never went back to glee. And she never got over it but her mom decided taking a trip each year would help. "Are you going to open the door? I have the car running and don't worry about packing."_

 _"Mom, I think I am too sick...I have a bad cold or something." she lied as she walked over to the door and let her mother in. "I can't go to Florida this year." Mercedes whined as her mother looked around the livingroom and shook her head. "Plus, Kurt and Santana need me."_

 _"We need you for what?" Kurt asked as he walked in with Santana in tow. "We thought we would've missed you two by now. Shouldn't you two be in Florida?" Kurt asked then stopped when he noticed Finn on the screen._

 _"Oh hell naw...are you still doing this every year? I mean, I loved Finn too...you do remember I had him first." Santana stated as she walked into the kitchen and grabbed a drink. "I'll stop there since Mama Jones is here."_

 _"Chile, I been knew you were the devils spawn. I won't be shocked by things you've done." She responded as she closed the door. "Now, Kurt, go turn my car off and bring me my keys. Santana, you help me clean up while Mercedes gets ready for our trip."_

 _"Cleaning?" Santana asked as she looked at Mama Jones then sighed when she glared her way. "Alright alright...you owe me." she muttered to Mercedes as Kurt did as he was told with no back talk._

 _"If I have to go then can Kurt and Santana come with me, Ma?" Mercedes asked as Santana finally smiled. She hadn't been outside of Ohio and a trip to Florida would be just what she needed._

 _"You can bring the entire town for all I care, baby. I just want you to stop blaming yourself for what happened to Finn and enjoy life as you would if he were alive." her mother stated as she walked over to her frowning daughter. "You can't give up on life, I know you can do this...smile for me baby and let's head down to Florida." Mercedes looked over at Santana who was just smiling at them before she looked back at her mother and smiled. "There goes my baby!"_

 _"Okay, I am loving this moment you two are having but if I am going I really have to go pack." Santana said just as Kurt walked in with the keys._

 _"What'd I miss?" He asked as he placed the keys on the table._

 _"Go pack, we're going to Florida."_

* * *

 _-2016-_

Mercedes stared at the ceiling, listening to Mike snore as her memories flooded her one by one. Tears filled her eyes as she remembered those moments that caused her to lose her two best friends and her mother. If she wasn't so hung up on Finn for so long they would have never went on that trip. Santana and Kurt would still be alive and her mother as well. They were only a few hours away from Florida when her mother had her stoke that caused her to lose control of the wheel. The next thing she remembered was waking up from her coma to seeing her mother in her own and learning that her best friends both died on the scene. Mercedes sat up and looked down at Mike as he slept like a baby then stopped when she heard a faint sound of music outside the door. She got up and made her way out of the room. As she made her way down the hallway the music became a bit louder. She smiled when she noticed it was the sound of Sam playing the guitar. She leaned against the wall and thought back to the moment they had earlier that night. For a minute there she thought that he wanted to kiss her and she almost wanted him to do it as well. He continued to play his guitar and before she could stop herself she found herself singing along with him. "Why does the song sound familiar?" she asked herself as she continued to sing along then stopped when he stopped playing the guitar.

"Mercedes? Is that you?" he asked. Mercedes quickly looked around before trying to head down towards the kitchen when Sam caught her down the hall. "Hey, did I wake you?"

"Uh...no...I was trying to uh...go to the kitchen when I heard you playing." she smiled. "That song sounds familiar and I couldn't help myself." she confessed as a smile spread across his face.

"Do you play?" he asked as he pointed to the guitar.

"No...I've always wanted to learn."

"Yeah? Maybe I can teach you a lil something something." he offered. Mercedes wasn't sure why but she felt her heart skip a beat and couldn't find the will to make her way back to Mike.

"How about right now?" Mercedes asked shocking not only herself but Sam as well as both his eyebrows raised. "I mean...if you want to show me right now or maybe we can just forget I even asked."

"No...it's no problem." Sam responded as he stepped back and opened his bedroom door. "You want to come in?" he asked. "Don't wanna wake Mike with your horrible guitar playing." he added. Mercedes smiled and made her way inside of his room then playfully hit Sam. "You know you gotta stop hitting me."

"Stop dissing me and I'll stop hitting you."

"So abusive."

"Shut up!" she laughed as she hit him again then stopped when she noticed for the first time that he didn't have a shirt on. She suddenly started remembering the day she walked in and saw him in his birthday suit. "Sorry." she quickly apologized when he noticed her staring at his chest.

"Hold on, lemme put on a shirt and then we'll get started." Sam stated as he handed her the guitar. Mercedes sat in the chair across from his bed and watched as he pulled a shirt from his drawer. He put the shirt on then made his way over to her. "Okay so first, let me show you how to hold the guitar."

"Okay." Mercedes responded as Sam made his way behind her and took her hand to place them on the guitar. "Uh...so um...and then what?" she asked so softly that she wasn't even sure she said it outside of her mind. She looked over at Sam as he smiled at her then cleared his throat.

"Uh...then you just put your fingers here and here...to hit the right...chords." he explained as he placed for fingers where they needed to be. "Now just give it a light stroke like this." He helped her stroke once then smiled at her. "Perfect." They stared at each other for a few seconds before Mercedes cleared her throat and moved away from him.

"Um...I didn't thank you for what you did earlier with Rachel and what you said when we were dancing." she got up and handed him the guitar then leaned on the dresser. He licked his lips and nodded as he took the guitar from her and slowly played a couple notes to the song he was playing earlier.

"Well I was just being honest and you were amazing up there on the stage."

"It really helped me remember things that I had forgotten."

"Do you remember everything?" Sam asked as if he knew something that she didn't. Mercedes shrugged as she tried to think if there was something that she was forgetting. As Sam continued to strum she smiled and hummed along.

"What song is that by the way? It seems to be on the tip of my tongue but I can't seem to remember it." Mercedes admitted as Sam smiled at her. He started to sing the song then placed the guitar down and continued to sing a Capella.

" _Beautiful girl, can you see me falling, all I want is you, make this a beautiful world, now my heart is calling and so caught up in you..."_ she felt her heart flipping as she watched him sing and slowly take steps towards her. She knew she needed to stop what she thought was about to happen but instead she just kept her eyes on him. "I'm a mess, I'm a wreck...if I asked would you say yes..." he was inches away from her and she couldn't move. She didn't want to move. Something in his eyes felt familiar as she stared into his green eyes and felt his nose brush against her own. He pulled her closer with one hand as his other hand went behind her neck. Everything was moving in slow motion as he slowly pressed his lips against hers. The moment they touched she felt all of her memories of him rushing back to her as she softly pushed him away.

"Sam." she said softly as she touched her lips then looked at him. "Sam."

"I'm sorry Mercedes...I shouldn't have done..." he started but stopped when she pulled him back in and kissed him again.

"I remember." she stated in between kissed as he wrapped his arm around her and deepened the kiss as she held on to him as if she hadn't seen him in months. All this time Sam was there and she was here with Mike. And within that same moment she remembered she was Mike's girlfriend. She pushed Sam away again and placed her hands on her lips in shock.

"Mike."

"We can tell him about us now." Sam stated as he went in to kiss her again. She quickly stopped him and shook her head causing Sam to step back and look at her in confusion.

"We can't be together, Sam. I'm with Mike now and I just...I...I can't do this right now." she stated before running passed him and out of the room. What the hell was she going to do? She knew she was going to have to tell Mike or maybe she can convince Sam to forget about the fling that they had. She was with Mike now and they both just had to live with it.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey y'all sorry I haven't updated but I was going to update the other night and forgot to save then my internet went out and I lost like half of what I wrote...but I think that was God sayin what I wrote was crappy. This version I feel is a bit better lol. Anyway, I wanna say thank you to everyone that keeps reading and reviewing this crazy story of mine. This "episode" is called Torn. Now let me answer any questions or reviews for y'all:**

 **Zini: Thank you for wishing me a happy birthday :)**

 **Lamimi: you are sort of right.**

 **Juju: I hope Mike can handle it too**

 **Dayja: Leave Quackberry...I mean Emma alone and thank you for the bday wish :)**

 **Emma: Yup she remembers...now she needs to decide.**

 **Sweetie: lol she was like welp Sam sorry lol and thank you too**

 **Bruna: be patient with her.**

 **City: Aww thank you I hope u continue to enjoy it**

 **Mowatt: How do you think Mike will handle it? So far he is really trusting of both Mercedes and Sam. He's oblivious to what's really going on. lol**

 **Anyway I am done...let me not waste yálls time with this Author's note.**

* * *

Sam stared at the door for what felt like hours as he debated on running after her or waiting for her to return. She never came back and he never got the guts to make the move after her. He was conflicted with his loyalty for his best friend and the feelings that he had for Mercedes. And things didn't got as awkward as he assumed it would get the next morning. He tried to preoccupy himself with packing his gym bag to avoid staring at Mercedes as Mike continued to baby her before he left for work. He couldn't help seeing Mike trying to kiss her goodbye and her slightly turning her face giving full access to her cheek instead.

"Are you okay, babe?" Sam heard Mike ask her. He wanted to stop looking at her but he also wanted her to know he was there. He wanted her to see the pain that all of this had been causing him.

"Uh...yeah..." she quickly responded as she looked over at Sam then just as quick turned her eyes away. "I uh think I might be coming down with something and I don't wanna...uh..." she snuck a peek at Sam then cleared her throat. "It's like a bad throat thing. I'll be fine later."

"Oh...do you want me to grab you some lozenge or can you take that with your other..."

"I'll be okay." she quickly cut him off. "I have some tea that I can make. And remember I see Dr. Fabray today so maybe some sun will do me good." she responded. Sam watched as she struggled with keeping her eyes on Mike and couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips as he swung his gym bag on his back. Mike looked back at him for a minute then back at Mercedes before pulling her in for a hug.

"I'm out!" Sam shouted as made his way to the door then looked back at Mercedes as she looked at him with a longing look. That look in her eyes was all Sam needed to know that he needed to decide that he was going to make his move again tonight.

* * *

That morning Mercedes hugged Mike but kept her eyes on Sam as he walked out the door. The entire night she was in bed, hearing Mike snore and her memories with Sam replay in her mind. She felt a tear slide down her cheek as she realize that she had been lying to Mike about being a virgin, when she'd already made love to his best friend in more ways than she could even explain. And things didn't get better when Mike continued to try to kiss her. Deep down she felt torn. A part of her felt she was cheating on Mike while the other part of her felt she had been cheating on Sam.

And the awkwardness continued when Mike came to take her to see Dr. Fabray. She didn't know how to act next to him anymore. She remembered how they'd met and not just the things Mike told her about. She remembered everything they'd shared, and as sweet as Mike was it just couldn't overshadow what she shared with Sam for some reason. And it was obvious that Mike was sensing something more was going on with her besides her supposed brush with a cold. She could tell he wanted to probe her some more but she just wasn't ready to tell him everything.

"So what time is your appointment over?" Mike asked. He gazed her way with a smile then placed his hand on her hand as he pulled over and parked. Mercedes stared at his hand for what felt like forever as she imagined it were Sam's hands on hers instead. The thought alone sent shivers up her spine and she immediately clamped her legs closed when a memory of them together flashed before her eyes. Tonight was going to be rough. How was she going to keep her distance from Sam? "Mercedes?"

"Oh um...yeah...I'm taking an Uber back afterwards. You don't have to leave work or stay and wait. I have a feeling today's session is going to be a lengthy one." Mercedes responded as she slowly slid her hand away from Mike's. She could feel Mike looking her way and preparing to ask her a question when she quickly opened the door and jumped out. "I'll see you tonight." She ran so fast inside that she didn't even kiss him goodbye as she usually did.

* * *

Sam couldn't get the thought of kissing Mercedes again out of his head. He could still feel her plump lips pressed against his. He knew it was wrong to kiss her but at least it brought her memory back and with her memory back he couldn't help wonder what other memories came back. And if maybe he could find a way to help bring those memories back, things might get better at the apartment between them. The only thing that made him feel a bit torn was Mike and how things would go down once he knew. Sam prayed it he would take it in the same manner he did with the Tina situation but deep down he knew Mike wouldn't. His feelings for Mercedes were way too strong.

"How many more sets?" Ken asked as Sam spotted him. Sam completely forgot to count sets as he lost focus with his thoughts of Mercedes.

"Uh...three...four..."

"Wait one got dang minute!" Ken exclaimed as he slammed the weights down and sat up before turning to look over at Sam. "You have no idea how many sets I've done, do ya?" he asked panting as he waited for Sam to answer. Sam stared back at his old coach from high school who had totally let himself go. He was one of his best paying clients and he really needed to keep him as a client but this Mercedes thing was affecting him and he needed to get to the bottom of it.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Sam asked instead as he sat in front of Ken instead of answering his question. Ken awkwardly looked at Sam then sighed and nodded his head as he waited for Sam to continue. "Have you ever...uh...dated...no..." he paused as he thought about the weekend he spent with her and shook his head. "Have you ever slept with your best friend's girlfriend?"

"Me?" Ken asked as a mischievous smile spread across his face. "Yeah I did! Me and Mr. Schuester shared a few chicks back at McKinley." he confessed as he nodded with pride. Sam shook his head as he could tell that Ken was not getting it and also to shake out the image of Ken and Schuester in the teacher's lounge doing God knows what.

"No...I mean...someone you both...loved." Sam explained as he thought of the feelings he had for Mercedes.

"Oh yeah...once...she was with me first and he ended up winning her but she turned out to be psychotic anyways. Heard she has a lawsuit she's dealing with now...so I think I dodged a bullet." he responded with a laugh as he playfully hit Sam on his shoulder. Sam shook his head as he thought about what landed Mercedes in this predicament but even through all of that, Mike still cared about her and Sam still loved her. It didn't seem to affect how either of them felt about her. Her condition seemed to have made them fall deeper for her.

"Did it affect your friendship when she chose him over you?"

"Of course! I didn't trust him after that and I couldn't stand to seem them together." Ken confessed. That was what Sam figured would happened. He also wished that Mike would be more happy for them and step back like Sam did when this all started. "So, is that why you've been killing me with these workouts lately?" Ken asked as he looked at a pensive Sam. "I thought it was because you weren't getting any, but you're getting a lot, huh? That's my boy!" he laughed and proudly patted Sam on the back. They sat in silence for a minute before Ken finally spoke again realizing how much this was really affecting Sam. "So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Sam responded then sighed as he looked to Ken. "If things were differently what would you have done since you had her first?"

"You mean if I had a fighting chance?" he asked then shrugged before he really thought about it. "I'd fight for my woman." Ken finally replied then stood up. "Do what you gotta do. All's fair in love and war."

* * *

Mercedes stared at Quinn for what felt like her entire session as she tried to find the way to explain everything that's happened. Quinn just smiled and watched Mercedes nervously chew her lips. How was she even to explain that she'd been dating two best friends? Or maybe she already knew from Emma's notes. That alone made her feel even more uneasy. All this time Quinn knew about the other memories she'd forgotten and just smiled at her without saying a word. She really wanted to know if Emma ever tried to tell her and she just forgot.

"So...you do know fifteen minutes has passed..."

"I slept with Sam!" Mercedes blurted out then sighed as if saying out loud made everything more real. She felt a weight lift from her shoulders as she sighed a sigh of relief. She stared back at Quinn to see if the smile that she had on her face had disappeared but it hadn't. She simply nodded then jotted down a couple notes.

"When did this happen? Last night?"

"No...we kissed last night."

"Oh...and how was it?" Quinn asked as she jotted down a couple more notes. Mercedes couldn't get the feeling of his lips on hers off her mind. And she couldn't wait to see him again just so that she can feel them again.

"It brought back memories that I didn't even know I had of him and now I don't know how to be with Mike." she confessed and rubbed her hands together nervously before looking up at Quinn again. "It just made me...remember...everything." she added as a smile tugged at the side of her lips.

"So I take it that you didn't tell Mike about the kiss, huh?"

"I haven't figured out how I would break it to him." Mercedes confessed as the smile quickly disappeared. "I don't want to break his heart. He really cares about me and I care about the both of them."

"Do you want to be with Sam?" Quinn asked. "Because if you do you'd only hurt Mike more if you don't tell him how you're truly feeling." Mercedes knew the answer to that question but immediately felt guilty and shrugged and stared at her fingers.

"I don't know who I want to be with. They both are really nice guys. How can I even pick? No matter who I pick someone is bound to be hurt."

"You know what?" Quinn placed her notepad down then waited for Mercedes to look up at her. "I think you do know the answer. Just tell me this. When you're with Mike do you think of Sam?"

"Yeah."

"Even before the kiss?"

"Yeah." Mercedes responded in what felt like a whisper as she thought about the kiss once again then shook her head in shame.

"And when you're with Sam...do you think of Mike?" Quinn asked as she tilted her head to the side and smiled at Mercedes. "How about you think about that this week and tell me your decision next week. And then we will go over how you will deliver the message to the both of them. How about that?" she asked as Mercedes shook her head in agreement.

* * *

Later that evening, Sam made his way back to the apartment. He knew Mike wouldn't be there because he sent him a message to bring some dinner in for her. Sam took that opportunity to grab some takeout from Breadsticks. The fact that Mike had no issues with Sam bringing her dinner and leaving them alone made Sam feel a tad guilty that he was trying to take her from him. But the feelings he had for Mercedes were making it hard for him to ignore the more he saw her and the kiss made it worse. And the smile that spread across her face when she saw him come in immediately made him smile as well.

"Hey." Sam said as he watched her walk over to him and slowly allow the smile on her face to disappear. He could tell that she was struggling with her feelings still. He was hoping the dinner would help her feel more at ease with it all. Sam had time to think about it all and he was opened to sharing Mercedes till she got the courage to sit Mike down and tell him the truth about them.

"Hey...you need help with that?"she asked as she reached over and grabbed one of the bags then headed to the dining room with them.

"Thanks...I grabbed some dinner at Breadsticks." he smiled as she pulled out the dinner boxes. "I got some of things you enjoyed the last time we got takeout there." Sam smiled.

"You remembered." she responded softly then looked at him and smiled shyly.

"I never forgot." Sam confessed and watched as she nervously shifted. "You know they always called this a steel trap." Sam added as he chuckled and pointed to his brain to lighten up the mood a bit.

"Who calls it that, Sam?" she asked as she looked at him before placing her hand on her hip.

"Everybody." he laughed as he made his way to the kitchen and grabbed plates and utensils. "You wanna come help me with some of these?" he shouted back then smiled when she leaned against the doorway and watched him struggle to juggle with everything.

"Nah...I want to see how talented you are." she joked then made her way to him and grabbed the cups from him. Sam quickly grabbed her hand and held her near with his free hand then smiled at how nervous she became.

"I think you know how talented I am."

"Okay that's enough, Sam." she responded then sashayed out of the kitchen then looked back at him catching him admiring her backside. "Are you going to just stand there or are we going to eat?" Sam wanted to tell her that he could possibly do both but he could tell that he was pushing it with his flirting. He followed her back to the dining room and took a seat across from her and watched as she placed some food on a plate then handed it over to him.

"This is all feels familiar, doesn't it?" Sam asked then smirked when she quickly denied it with a shrug. Sam sighed when he realized all of his efforts were falling flat. He needed to bite bullet and just put it out there. "So are we going to talk about the kiss?"

"There's nothing to talk about."

"You expect me to believe that kiss meant nothing to you?" Sam asked with a smile as he placed a mouthful of lasagna in his mouth. Mercedes avoided his eyes as she forked around her food. "You said you remembered and then you kissed me again, Mercedes."

"Sam...I know what I said and I also told you I'm with Mike now." she responded as if she was reminding herself more than reminding Sam.

"So...what we had was nothing?" he asked as he reached for her hand then she finally looked at him and opened her mouth to respond but stopped when the sound of Mike opening the door caused her to stop. Sam tried to hide the frown that spread across his face when she slid her hand away from his.

"Hey babe!" Mike greeted her before going in for the kiss. Sam anticipated her moving and giving him her cheek but instead she allowed him to kiss her. "You're feeling better?" he smiled then looked at Sam then the food. "Thanks man, you're the best friend a man can ask for. How much do I owe you? This looks so good. I'm hungry." Mike rambled on not even noticing how Sam was staring at Mercedes.

"It's nothing, man. What are friend's for?" Sam forced a smile on his face as Mike made his own plate and looked between the two of them.

"How was work, babe?" Mercedes asked as she continued to avoid Sam's stares. Mike was busy forking food in his mouth that he didn't even notice. Sam decided he would play her game and looked to Mike as if he wanted to know how his day was as well. As Mike explained his day, Sam slowly slid his foot over to Mercedes' foot and brushed his against hers. He thought she'd move it away but instead she brushed hers against his then looked over at him and licked her lips. Sam kept his eyes on Mike as he explained how his day went.

"Look at me going on and on and not checking in with my baby." Mike stopped and looked over at Mercedes as she nervously smiled at him then pulled her foot away from Sam's. "How was your session today? Had any break throughs?"

"I think I did. I...uh...kinda remember everything...I mean I feel I do." she nodded then looked from Mike to Sam. "I think I might be well enough to head back to my place soon." she added as both of them looked back at her.

"You know you can stay as long as you want, right?" Mike reminded her then looked to Sam. "Sam and I don't mind you being here, right bud?" Mike asked and waited for Sam to respond as he sipped his drink. "Right Sam?"

"Yeah...sure...but if she wants to leave...you gotta respect her wishes." he replied. "Our doors are opened to you, Mercedes. Any time you need us you can always come to us." Sam added hoping she understood that he was only talking about himself. She didn't respond or look his way but she nodded anyway.

"Thanks guys."

* * *

Later that night, Sam stared at his ceiling as he lied across his bed playing his guitar. He really thought things would have played out differently between them. He thought that once she remembered him that she wouldn't be able to hold back. He wasn't sure if he was impressed with her loyalty and faithfulness or annoyed by it all. To be quite honest, all he knew was that she was meant to be with him. Sure Mike cared about her and she probably cared for him as well but he knew that Mercedes loved him. Sam could see it in her eyes. He knew she fell in love with him when they shared that weekend together. It happened quick but he knew it was there and he was shocked that she was ignoring it. Sam was in deep thought, trying to figure out what he needed to do to get his girl back and not lose his best friend when he heard a light knock on his door.

"Come in." he responded without getting up as he looked towards the door. When he saw Mercedes walking in and closing the door behind her, he quickly sat up and placed his guitar on the ground. "Hey."

"I heard you playing." she smiled and sat next to him on the bed. "With that guitar you're like the Pied Piper." she chuckled. "You strum that thing and next thing you know..." she paused and looked at him. "I'm here."

"That's good to know." Sam responded. "Maybe I should play it more often, huh?" he asked. They both sat in silence before Mercedes cleared her throat a couple times and rubbed her hands nervously. "Are you still having that throat problem you had earlier?" he asked then smiled when she glared at him.

"You're not funny." she responded before playfully hitting him.

"Ouch! Stop hitting me." he pretended she was hurting him as he blocked her blows.

"Stop making me."

"That's not what I'm trying to make you do." Sam responded as he suddenly became serious. She quickly became nervous again and rubbed her hands together before looking to him again.

"What are you trying to make me do, huh?" she asked. "Because nothing good can come out of that you know?"

"I don't believe that." he replied. "Unless..."

"What?"

"Do you...love Mike?" Sam asked. He wasn't sure what he'd do or how he'd feel if she said that she did but deep down he knew she didn't feel for him the way she felt for Sam.

"Sam...don't ask me that?"

"No...Mercedes...just tell me and I will bow out gracefully as I have been doing so far." Sam stared at her and waited for her to respond feeling his heart beat so hard he thought it would jump out of his chest.

"I can't do this." she responded and made her way to the door. Sam quickly followed her. He wasn't going to let her walk out again. He took hold of her hand and stopped her before pulling her to him. "Sam..." she managed to say before kissing him. Sam wrapped his arm around her waist and took steps back towards his bed. They fell back on his bed as they both frantically ripped off each other's clothes and planted kisses where ever they could. At that moment they were only thinking of each other. They weren't thinking of anyone but how much they had been missing while she was with Mike. Sam wasn't sure what this meant but he wasn't going to spoil it with questions or reminders of Mike.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey everyone...thank you for returning and reading and reviewing. I appreciate it. I was sick the past few days but I am back and in full effect. Here's the next chapter...I think I'll call it. "Sam's mystery girl" lol hope you all enjoy.**

 **Now for the reviews:**

 **Dayja guest: You wonder if they will get caught? Me too...lol**

 **Lamimi: Oh really lol**

 **Mowatts, Bruna: So you all think he's going to walk in on them sleeping in Sam's bed?**

 **Emma and guest: I love me some Samcedes too...obsessed for no reason**

 **JuJu: I'm just saying Mike sleeps really hard...so let's see what happens.**

* * *

Mercedes woke up with a smile and Sam's arms wrapped around her as if he didn't want to lose her. It was still dark out as she looked up at him as he snored softly. Whatever dream he was having she could tell that it was a good one because every so often he would smile slightly and hold her a bit tighter. She snuggled up to him and closed her eyes then realized that she shouldn't have been there. Her eyes flew back opened as she stared at the closed door and tried to move Sam's arms. It was hard to slip away but he turned over and let go of her finally. Mercedes stepped out of the bed and quickly picked up her clothes then looked around the room for her bra. She knew if she turned the lights on that she could find it but then she'd wake him up and that was not what she wanted to do right then.

"I'll get it back from him later." she mumbled to herself as she slipped out of the room then made her way to the bathroom and took a quick shower. The last thing she wanted to do was go back to Mike smelling like sex when he still thought she was a virgin. As she showered she tried to think of how to tell him about not being a virgin as well as telling him about Sam. She wasn't sure which would infuriate him the most, the fact that she was sleeping with Sam on the low or the fact that she hadn't been a virgin all this time. She continued trying to think of the ways to tell him as she got out of the shower and made her way back to the bedroom. She was shocked to see that Mike wasn't snoring as he usually would be, so she stepped lightly over him and made her way to the bed. Just as she was about to close her eyes he sat up.

"Mercedes?" he asked causing her eyes to fly open and heart beat a mile a minute. "Are you okay? I got up to check on you a minute ago and you weren't in your bed."

"Uh...yeah I...uh..." she tried to think of what to say. Although the lights were off she could feel his eyes on her as if he already knew where she'd been. "I couldn't sleep so I went to watch some TV..."

"Yeah I thought that as well and went out there to see if you were in the living room but the TV was off." he responded cutting her off and making his way over to the light and turned it on.

"Oh yeah...there was nothing on the TV so I decided to take a shower to see if maybe that would help me." she responded as she watched him make his way to the bed.

"Yeah I thought that was where you went but I didn't here the shower running..."

"I took a bath first then showered off the suds." she cut him off quickly. He looked over at her for a minute then slowly nodded with a smile. "It really helped me and I think I'm feeling sleepy now." she added as she pretended to yawn.

"Cool...I guess I was worried that...thought you left without saying goodbye."he replied then reached over to place a kiss on her forehead. She quickly moved back then paused to force a smile as he gently kissed her forehead. "I was...just kissing your forehead. I know you're still not feeling well enough to kiss." he smiled then walked over to turn off the lights. "I miss kissing you though." he admitted with a pressed smile as he hit the switch then made his way back over to his airbed then pulled the covers back over him. "Good night, babe."

"Good night." Mercedes whispered back to him then slowly closed her eyes. She wasn't sure what she was going to do but she knew that eventually she was going to have to break either Mike's heart or Sam's. No matter who she chose someone was going to be hurt and if she kept holding it off it was just going to get worst for the three of them.

* * *

The next morning, Sam woke up with a smile on his face as he reached behind him to see if Mercedes was next to him. He felt the smile that was once on his face slowly fade away as he realized that she'd left. She probably left in the middle of the night. She still cared for Mike and didn't want him to find out about Sam by walking in on them. Sam knew it would be best to just tell him but, he missed waking up to her like he did that one weekend. He quickly grabbed his shorts that were on the ground and slipped them on just as someone knocked on his door. He felt his heart skip a beat as he hoped it was Mercedes coming for a round of morning sex.

"Come in." he shouted then quickly ran his hands through his hair. He was shocked to see it was Mike as he opened the door and made his way in before closing the door behind him.

"Sup man, I wanted to catch you before your morning run." Mike admitted then leaned against the drawer that was in the room. Sam could tell it was something serious as Mike was not the type to close doors as he spoke to Sam.

"Yeah? Wassup, man? Everything good?" Sam asked as he pulled his t-shirt over his head then looked over at Mike.

"I feel weird asking you this...but you're my best friend and have no one else I can bring this up to, you know?"

"Yeah...sure...cool." Sam replied as he tried to think of what Mike would want to talk about. Sam tried to remember how the Tina conversation went but for the life of him he couldn't remember if Mike was this cool when he approached him.

"It's about Mercedes." Mike stated then looked at Sam.

"Mercedes?" Sam asked as he suddenly felt uneasy. "What about her? Are you thinking about asking her to stay a bit longer?" Sam asked trying to make sure that he didn't incriminate himself.

"No." Mike responded as he quickly shook his head. "I think she really needs to go back home. Especially now that her memory is back, you know?" Mike walked over to the chair that was in the room and sat down before looking back at Sam. "I think she's losing interest in me."

"Losing interest in you?" Sam asked as if it was absurd. "That doesn't even make sense. She's totally into you dude." Sam responded. "She might even love you." he added then watched a hopeful grin spread on Mike's face.

"You think so?" he asked then shook his head. "She won't even kiss me, man." he added. "Ever since her memory came back she's been pulling away from me and now she just...she's acting weird." Sam wished he could just tell Mike but he knew that if he did without talking it out with Mercedes he could end up losing her and losing Mike as well. He made his way over to Mike and placed a supportive hand on his best friend's shoulder.

"She's dealing with a lot, man. Put yourself in her shoes. Everything she's been through is all coming back to her at once." Sam stated as Mike stared off and nodded in agreement. "Just give her some space and then she'll come to you."

"I guess you're right." Mike stated then stood up and gave Sam a quick bro hug then laughed as he patted Sam on the back. "Wait a minute...is that a chick's bra over there under your pillow?" Mike asked as he pushed Sam aside and pulled the bra out. He stared at the bra for a minute then slung it at Sam. "You met someone new?" he asked with a smile.

"Um...yeah...well no not exactly." Sam responded. "It was the same girl from before. We tried to rekindle things and one thing led to another and you know..."

"You sly dog...where is she? Can I finally meet her?" Mike asked eagerly.

"No...we uh...she left in the middle of the night. She kind of only wants a booty call arrangement thing." Sam lied.

"Really?" Mike asked as he made his way to the door. "I was going to suggest we double date but I guess that would be weird especially since Mercedes is a virgin and I'm not into orgies or sharing the love of my life." he laughed as Sam pretended to laugh as well.

"Don't I know it."

"Anyway, I gotta go help Mercedes pack and drop her to her appointment." Mike smiled as he pulled the door behind him then stopped. "Hey, if you're really into that girl then don't give up on her. I think she might come around for you, bro."

"Thanks man...I won't give up."

* * *

Mercedes spent the entire morning trying to think of what to say to Mike. She had all the right mind to tell him that morning after spending the entire night thinking of the conversation they had before she slept. Then he came in that morning helping her pack and was being the sweetest he'd ever been. He wasn't babying her as usual but he was still being ridiculously sweet that she began feeling guilty. He told her that once she was at her appointment that he would drop off her things at her apartment for her. She'd even given him her spare keys so that he would have access while she was at her appointment. He mentioned that he would go straight to work afterwards by using an uber. So as she sat inside of Dr. Fabray's office, she felt conflicted as she felt even more confused about what she would do. She would be crazy to leave a good man like Mike, but she couldn't deny that she'd fallen in love with Sam again.

"So Mercedes...we weren't supposed to meet up again this week but I was told that you insisted on seeing me today." Quinn said as she walked in and closed the door behind her.

"I slept with Sam." Mercedes blurted just as the door closed. Quinn slowly walked over to where Mercedes sat and smiled before sitting in front of her.

"Yes, Mercedes. We went over that already...remember?"

"I slept with Sam..." Mercedes repeated then looked over at Quinn. "Again." she added then waited for it all to register on Quinn's face.

"Oh!" she responded with a concerned smile.

"Last night...or maybe it was this morning...it was late." Mercedes rambled. "I didn't mean for it to happen, but..."

"It did and how did it make you feel?" she asked.

"I mean...it was sex...with Sam..." she paused as it replayed in her mind. "He's really good with his hands and his lips...oh my...did I tell you how unusually plump his lips are for a white guy?" Mercedes asked. "No offense."

"None taken, but what I was asking about was your emotionally state not your physical."

"Oh...um...I don't know."

"Okay Mercedes, you really need to stop saying that because you do know. You know why you went to his room. You know why you kissed him. You know why you ended up in his bed and you know why you feel differently towards Mike." Quinn responded. Mercedes could tell that Quinn was getting tired of her denying her true feelings.

"I really don't know."

"Stop it!"Quinn replied. "You can be honest with me here. I am not here to judge you or make you feel bad for the feelings that you have. I need you to be able to express these things with me so that I can help you get better." she added before walking over and sitting next to Mercedes. "Now tell me, how did it make you feel to finally be with Sam again. Without thinking about Mike. I know that you might think it is wrong but the only reason you feel that way is because you keep putting him in the equation."

"Because he is in the equation."

"You need to separate those equations so that you can tell what you're really feeling." she watched as Mercedes tried to remove Mike from it all then smiled as Mercedes slowly nodded.

"It felt good and unforced." Mercedes responded. "I feel at home with him. I feel as if I was meant to be with him but then after it was all done I felt guilty for wanting to stay there."

"But that's where you want to be."

"Yes but I care about Mike...he's really sweet."

"Do you love Mike?" Quinn asked then smiled as Mercedes shook her head then shrugged as the guilt set it. "Okay, do you love Sam?" she asked then smiled when a tear slid down Mercedes' face.

"I can't break up with Mike. It would break his heart."

"What about Sam's heart?" Quinn asked as Mercedes shrugged again. Quinn got up and walked over to her desk and pulled out a notebook that looked like Emma Pillsbury's. She flipped through a couple pages then smiled. "How did you feel when Finn Hudson kept parading around McKinley High with..." she paused and flipped through a couple pages then smiled. "Rachel Berry?"

"That was different." Mercedes quickly dismissed.

"How was it different? Finn was with Rachel but secretly in love with you. And at Prom you thought he picked Rachel, right? How did you feel that night when he picked her over you?" she asked then waited for Mercedes to respond. "Look, I'm not trying to make you feel bad, remember. I just want you to realize that what you're doing is still hurting someone. Sam is still being hurt and nobody is even considering his feelings. He's stepped aside so that you can pretend to be with a person he knows you don't love. All because you're afraid to admit how you are truly feeling." Mercedes listened as Quinn continued her speech then stopped with a smile as usual. "So what are you going to do?" she finally asked.

"I'm going to tell Sam that I love him and tell Mike the truth about us."

* * *

Later that day, Sam told Ken that he would have a rest day so that he could go by Mercedes' apartment. He had all plans to go there and tell her that she needed to tell Mike or that he would. He wanted her to know that he wasn't going to stop trying to get her back and that he loved her more than he thought he did. He was even willing to lose his best friend because of it. When he made it to her apartment he prayed that she had already made it back or else he'd have to awkwardly wait for her to return. He walked up to her door and knocked as he rehearsed his speech over and over in his head.

"Sam." she said as she opened the door.

"We need to talk." he said as he stormed in. He heard her close the door and lock it then follow behind him.

"Why don't you come in." she added with a slight chuckle.

"Look...I know you care for Mike and I do too. He's my best friend. We have been best friends since..." he shrugged then continued. "Before I can even remember how we even met. But I can't just sit back and watch you with him. Every kiss, hug or even slight touching that the both of you do it makes me want to scream." he rambled as she just stared at him with an admiring smile. "He's my best friend and I sometimes feel myself hating him...all because I love you." he paused to see her reaction but continued. "I love you, Mercedes...like really love you. I don't know when it happened but it did and I can't get over it. I can't ignore it. I can't sit back and watch you fall in love with him..."

"Sam..."

"So you need to tell me right now." Sam demanded and walked closer to her. "Do you love him? Do you love me? Do you want to be with him? Because last night told me differently. Your eyes tell me differently..." Mercedes stopped him as she pressed her lips to his and wrapped her arms around him. Sam softly pushed her away and smiled before shaking his head. "I need to hear you say it, Mercedes." he asked as he stared into her eyes. She smiled and nodded before biting her bottom lip.

"I love you, Sam...I want to be with you." she confessed before reclaiming his lips with her own. Sam deepened the kiss and smiled as she continued to say it in between each kiss. "I love you, Sam." he pinned her against the wall and continued to place kisses down her neck as her hands slipped down his gym shorts and pushed them down. Sam's hands quickly went up her tank top and took a hold of her bra straps as he pulled them down and pulled her top up. He continued to trail kisses down her collarbone then placed a kiss on each breast as she moaned with pleasure. Sam loved hearing her moan, it always sounded as if she was singing to him. He bent down slightly and lifted her up before making his way with her to the bedroom. He kicked his shorts into the room then nudged the door shut then threw her softly on the bed as he quickly removed the rest of his clothing. She seductively removed her jeans and threw them to him and laughed as he tossed it away and jumped on the bed.

"Get over here." he playfully said as he pulled her under him then rolled till she was sitting on top of him. He reached up and caressed her cheek with one hand then smiled as she placed a kiss on the palm of his hand. With her free hand she guided him inside of her and slowly slid down till he was fully inside of her. Sam sat up and wrapped one arm around her and placed his other hand behind him for support as began to thrust inside of her. She was moaning so loud that neither of them heard the front door open. "I love you, Mercedes." Sam confessed as she kissed him and continued to moan. Sam continued to thrust and stopped only when the bedroom door swung opened and Mike stood at the doorway in shock. Sam quickly moved Mercedes out of the way and threw the bed covers over her then stood up to cover his man parts. "Mike...I can explain." was all he managed to say as Mercedes quickly grabbed his shirt and placed them on. Sam wasn't sure what he would explain but he knew this was not how he wanted things to go down.


	13. Chapter 13

**I wanna thank you all for reading and reviewing. I want to also let you all know the schedule of when I will update. It will pretty much be on weekends. Anytime between Thurs-Sat is when I will update. Sorry for the confusion. I have a novel that I need to complete and to be quite honest SameCedes is monopolizing my time lol. Now to some of the reviews:**

 **Phatty: Lwil Maskreti couldn't help heal me in this instance. I couldn't hear out of my right ear so I had to see an ENT and I am all good now :)**

 **Sweetie: I live for your predictions u are usually spot on or close lol**

 **Lamimi: I think you might enjoy and hate this chapter.**

 **I won't say much more...just read...**

* * *

Mercedes heard Sam's words repeatedly as she stood frozen with panic. "Mike...I can explain." was playing over and over as Mike stared back at them both with a look of anger, shock and disappointment. How the hell was Sam going to explain what Mike was just looking at. Mercedes couldn't find the words and as she looked at his hurt expression she could only think to utter his name as he swiftly turned around and left her room. Mercedes quickly ran after him, leaving Sam back in the room as he scrambled around the bedroom to find his gym shorts. As she ran behind him she tried to find the words that she could say to make this situation better. She caught up to him a few steps away from his car but still had no way to explain it to him the way she planned to before he walked in on them having sex.

"Mike, please, come back inside and let us explain..." she begged as she tried to pull his hand back. Mike stared at her hand for a second then pulled it away before turning to face her with every ounce of pain in his eyes. She'd never seen a look like that before. She wondered if this was how she looked at Finn when she confronted him about their secret love affair. She was really hurt then and she would hate to be the person responsible for making someone feel that way. "We..."

"Can explain?" he asked cutting her off. "How can you explain this? Huh? How do you plan to explain the fact that I came here to drop off your things and instead I walk in on my..." he paused and chuckled to himself before continuing with a shaken head. "...with my best friend screwing my virgin girlfriend?" Mercedes wasn't sure how she'd explain but she definitely didn't want to do this outside. Mike was already starting to raise his voice and it would only be a few seconds before all her neighbors were staring through their windows at the drama of the day.

"Please, Mike, just come back inside and let us explain." Mercedes begged again just as Sam made it outside and stood behind her wearing only his gym shorts.

"Guess I know who the bra belongs to now." Mike added.

"Come on, bro, if you come back inside we can explain all of this." Sam interjected causing Mike to scowl. The look of hurt on his face went back to a look of pure anger as he stared at Sam standing behind Mercedes.

"Funny." Mike scoffed. "I'm not your bro and...uh...when did this thing become a 'We' thing? Have you two been screwing around so long that you speak for each other now?" he asked as his voice began to elevate a bit more. Mercedes looked around and noticed a couple windows parting as neighbors began to notice there was drama starting.

"Mike...we only...I mean I didn't..." Mercedes scrambled for words but she just felt as if the world was caving in on her at once. "Can we all just go back inside so I can explain everything."

"No, Mercedes, because there's absolutely nothing that either one of you can say that will explain why he was fucking my virgin girlfriend!" he shouted back. "You know I had an inkling that something was going on between the two of you but I pushed it behind my head because I trusted you both." he added. "You because I assumed you were my girl and a freaking virgin. You wouldn't even sleep in the same bed with me!" then he went over to Sam and shook his head. "And you because I really thought you were my best friend and also because of the conversation we had this morning."

"Bro..."

"You heard me tell you how I felt for her! You let me go on and on about her, reassuring me that I had nothing to worry about. When it was you I had to worry about."

"I'm sorry about that bro...I mean Mike...I wanted to tell you then but we...I mean she wanted us to do it together." Sam explained as Mercedes shifted uncomfortably. She had no idea that Sam and Mike had a conversation about her. She knew Mike cared about her but from the look in his eyes it was obvious that he'd fallen in love with her and that was making things worst.

"But you knew how I feel...felt..." he paused and looked at Mercedes then sighed before continuing. "Feel. You knew how I felt about her and you just didn't care to tell me anything."

"I have feelings for her too, Mike. I love her and you know what...she loves me too." Sam responded. Mercedes couldn't believe Sam said that and stared at him in shock. This was not the time to add that. "I'm sorry, Mercedes but he needs to know this." Sam added before looking back at Mike. "We love each other."

"You know what..." Mike shook his head in total shock. "This all seems familiar. You always feel that you have to have every woman that I have feelings for. You always want my girls. If I love them then you just _have_ to have them as well. You made out with Tina when I was away from town and now you're fucking my girl friend. You just can't help yourself, huh?" Mike asked as Sam slightly pushed Mercedes behind him as if he feared that Mike would actually hit Mercedes.

"Or maybe it's your women that can't help themselves." Sam responded. Mike stared at Sam and smirked for a minute before jabbing Sam right in the face till he tumbled back on to Mercedes. Sam quickly placed his hand on his nose as it immediately began to bleed.

"Sam...are you okay?" Mercedes asked as she held him slightly. He never replied instead he lunged over at Mike and slammed him against his car delivering a couple punches on Mike before Mike retaliated. They both fell to the ground and continued to punch each other. Within minutes Mike had overpowered Sam and had him on the ground preparing to deliver another punch when Mercedes ran over to him. " Mike, please stop!" she begged. "You're hurting him!" she shouted as she held on to his hand. Mike looked back at her and then down at Sam before standing up. The way he looked at her she could feel that the love he had for her was still there and they were a bit more intense then before.

"You know what...forget it!" Mike said as he stepped over Sam and opened his car door. He hopped in and started his car as he looked at Mercedes then drove off. Mercedes watched his car driveway before she ran over to Sam.

"Are you okay, Sam?" she asked as he sat up. "Let's get back inside before someone calls the cops." she added as she helped him up and back into the apartment. She hated watching the two of them fight and hated that it was all because of her. How was she going to fix their friendship? And why was the look in Mike's eyes haunting her?

* * *

Once they were back inside, Sam watched as Mercedes grabbed a bag of veggies out of the fridge then stepped into her bathroom to grab what looked like a box. Sam held his nose to stop the bleeding as his mind replayed what had just happened. Sam knew he was wrong for saying what he said but Mike really hit a nerve when he said that Sam always went after his girls. Mike knew that Sam never even had feelings for Tina. She was the one that threw herself on Sam because she was feeling lonely. Sam felt as if he had done him a favor and Mike had always told Sam that he'd forgiven him for that. And for him to compare the situations with Mercedes it just made Sam lose his control.

"I really screwed things up." Mercedes said as she sat in front of him and began to clean up his face. With her free hand she placed the bag of veggies on Sam's eye then gave him a weary smile.

"This wasn't your fault, Mercedes." Sam responded as he placed his hand on hers. "I should've told Mike about you the moment I saw you at the hospital. I'd been watching him fall for you since day one but I was too focused on my own feelings for you that I didn't even consider how this would all play out."

"No this is my fault." she replied. "If the two of you had never met me then you'd still be friends now." she added. Sam could see she was going back to how she was before taking the blame for everything as if she could change things.

"Babe, Mike is my best friend. We've fought before. He will pull through this." Sam responded even though he wasn't sure if that were true. He'd never seen the look he'd seen on Mike's face before. It was probably the end of their friendship. Although he was going to miss Mike, he was a bit happy to have won Mercedes back.

"I guess." she responded. Sam could tell that she was still having some thoughts that she was struggling with. He caressed her hand and placed a kiss on the palm of her hand hoping that this would bring a smile to her face but it didn't.

"What's up, babe?" he asked.

"I'd never hurt anybody like that before. And I never knew that Mike had intense feelings for me."

"What do you mean? He's always shown that he cared about you."

"No...his eyes...today..." she paused as she looked away from Sam's eyes and shrugged. "It was different." Sam wasn't sure he liked the look he saw there. Was she having second thoughts about them because Mike beat him up? Women always liked a man that could fight. Sadly for him, Mike had been taking kickboxing and boxing lessons since he was a baby. Only lessons Sam's family could afford were the guitar lessons he received.

"Are you changing your mind about us?"

"What?" she asked as she snapped out of whatever trance that she was in then shook her head before shrugging. "I...um...I still care about him. It just my other self still has lingering feelings for him."

"Yes...I understand but you love me, right?" Sam asked as suddenly lost the confidence he had felt with them this morning. She quickly smiled and placed her hand under his chin bringing him forward as she pressed her lips on his.

"I love you, Sam. Don't worry about that." she smiled. "I just can't seem to fully shake away that other side of me that was falling for the both of you."

"So...do you think that..." he paused as he felt if he said it out loud that the worst thing ever could actually manifest itself. He could really lose her for real now. She could actually be in love with him and her old self could return and fall for Mike as well. "You think you might revert back to the whole crazy double personality, I don't remember I love Sam, self?"

"Did you just call me crazy?"

"No...I said...the double personality thing was...you know what I mean, Mercedes." Sam responded as he could already sense he was losing her the more he said. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to deal with all this and I'm saying the wrong things."

"And you think I know how to deal with all of this?" Mercedes asked as she stood up then crossed her arms and looked at him. "I lost my two best friends in one night, caused someone that I loved to die on my prom night, loss my memory and mother all in one full swoop. My boyfriend who I thought was my boyfriend just so happened to walk in on me having sex with his best friend when he thought all along I was a virgin. I broke his heart, Sam!" she shouted then shrugged. "So I'm having second thoughts, that doesn't make me crazy. What the hell do you expect from me?" Mercedes said as tears began to fall from her eyes. Sam quickly ran to her but she stepped away and put her hand up to stop him. "Don't! Please!" she quickly wiped her tears away. "I think I need some time alone."

"Mercedes!" Sam stated stepping towards her again. She stepped back again then walked over to the door and opened it. "Can we talk about this?" Sam asked as he walked over to the door anyway.

"I need time to go over my _crazy_." she responded.

"I didn't call you crazy." Sam responded then sighed when Mercedes shook her head. "You're still wearing my shirt." he added hoping she'd say okay that he'd stay instead of giving back the shirt. Mercedes quickly took the shirt off and handed it over to him. Sam stepped over to her, took the shirt and kissed her anyway before stepping out of the apartment with the shirt.

* * *

Sam reached back to his apartment a bit later that night. Instead of heading straight home he went to workout instead to clear his mind. He prayed that he didn't push Mercedes away because of his no filter attitude. He'd always had that issue and he learned that he needed to find a filter today. He'd hurt his best friend and the woman he loved just because he couldn't stop and think before he spoke. So he avoided heading home the way he used to avoid heading home when Mike first invited Mercedes to live with them. The moment he opened the door he noticed Mike sitting in the living room staring at the TV with nothing on it. Mike immediately looked over at Sam then stood up and walked over to meet him halfway.

"Thought you'd stay over at..." Mike stated then paused before saying her name. Sam could only think of what crazy thoughts ran through Mike's head as he sat in front of a blank TV.

"She...uh...kinda kicked me out after you left." Sam confessed as he jammed his hands in his pockets. They both stood there in silence before they looked at each other. Sam could see that he was able to deliver a black eye on Mike as well. Even though he felt bad for the fight he felt a slight sense of pride that he was able to give Mike a black eye. "So...uh...sorry about the..."

"Yeah and uh...sorry about your eye and your..." Mike added and pointed to his nose. Sam chuckled and nodded then ran his hand through his hair.

"I think I deserved it after what I did...but I really feel you need to hear the truth about Mercedes and me." Sam said as he pointed over to the couch so that they could sit and talk. He was happy to see that Mike was in a better mood.

"Okay." Mike responded as he made his way back to where he was sitting. Sam nervously followed him and sat down before rubbing his legs and looking over at Mike. He tried to read Mike's expression but couldn't really figure out what he was thinking.

"So...do you remember the girl I told you I met and fell for...my client?" he asked and waited for Mike to nod before continuing. "Well she worked at the Lima Library, she had an accident where she lost everyone she cared about and also lost her memory." Sam added then looked over at Mike to see if he was connecting the dots. "She was always disappearing on me and I spent that weekend with her, you know. I thought I'd tell her how I felt that night but she wasn't home."

"That was the same girl that I was falling for and she was out with me that night, huh?" Mike responded.

"Yeah...so when I received the call from you to take your car to the hospital, I was already there because I was already at her place."

"Then you walked in on me with her at the hospital with flowers and just went along with it all."

"At that time I thought she was playing me and you looked so into her...and she looked just as into you." Sam confessed. "I never planned to take her from you I just couldn't keep how I felt for her aside. I couldn't stop loving her." Sam confessed and watched as Mike nodded with understanding. "But because you are my best friend I tried to ignore it instead of telling you the truth and fighting for her." Sam tried to read the expression on Mike's face again but he really couldn't get far. He just sat there as if he was a robot deciphering a code. Minutes later a smile spread across his face as he stood and walked passed Sam. He placed his hand on Sam's shoulder and gave him a quick tap on the shoulder.

"I guess that's the difference between you and I, Sam." Mike said before walking toward his room. "I will fight for her." Sam suddenly felt uneasy as he watched Mike disappear into his bedroom. If things weren't as shaky as they were with Mercedes, Sam would have laughed him off but Mike might succeed. Mercedes might actually fall for Mike, this time for real.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey everybody...sorry this is so late...I woke up with a migraine out the ass this morning...and let's not even talk about what happened TUESDAY UGH! anyway...here's the update...I know I pissed yall off the last chapter lol. This chapter I will call Who do you love... Reviews? Most of y'all are just sick of Mike by now lol and maybe even Mercedes wishy washy ass...So Mike isn't even givin up...let's see if Sam is...**

* * *

Mercedes couldn't believe how everything had gone down. And when she woke up the next day she still couldn't how screwed up everything had gotten. She never planned for Mike to walk in on her in bed with Sam, hell she never planned on Sam coming over either. She knew they were wrong and more so her because she hadn't broken up with Mike yet. Her plan was to sit Mike down and explain everything hoping that the nice guy that she cared about would understand it all. But seeing his hurt eyes and his angry stare had her feeling guilty and confused. She couldn't wait to talk to Dr. Fabray so that she could help her sort out her feelings.

She checked her phone throughout the day and that morning hoping that Sam would have called or texted but he did neither. She thought of calling him but couldn't figure out what to say to him. What he said to her had her upset but she wasn't sure if she was mad at him or mad at the situation and used it as a reason to push him away. Either way, she couldn't see a future with them without seeing Mike or tearing their friendship apart. Every time she would look into Sam's eyes she will only remember that she was the reason they were no longer friends. She was tired of being the reason that bad things happened to the people she cared about.

She gave herself an internal peptalk before grabbing her phone to see if her uber was near and to also see if Sam had texted her. She knew he hadn't but she was still hoping he would. Instead of seeing Sam's name come across her screen an unknown number displayed. She stared at it for a few minutes trying to decide if she should answer it or not. There were many numbers that came through on her phone lately that she had to slowly try to remember but this one didn't ring a bell. She sighed as she slid her finger across to answer it as she looked around her room for her purse so she'd be ready to jump out when her uber arrived.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mercedes...it's Tina!" Tina said cheerfully. Mercedes paused and looked at her phone then tried to remember when or if she ever gave Tina her number. "You do remember me, right?" she asked when Mercedes didn't respond. "We used to best friends way back when...we saw each other at the reunion...I used to date your boy..."

"Yeah...yeah...I remember you Tina." Mercedes said cutting her off. "What's...uh...going on?" Mercedes asked as she finally found her purse.

"Nothing really...I just wanted to know if you would be interested in grabbing lunch and playing catch up." she explained. "Thought maybe that you could use a friend nowadays...I know I can."

"Uh...yeah...sure...what time?"

"Would one be okay? Down at the Lima Bean perhaps?"

"That will work...I have my appointment in a few and a few errands to run before then so that will be perfect." Mercedes replied as she made her way to the door.

"Oh...any shopping? I love to shop. I need a new pair of boots before winter comes around..." Tina began rambling as Mercedes pretended to listen. She opened her door only to find Mike standing there preparing to knock on the door. "You think we can possibly go..."

"Hey Mercedes!" Mike said with a nervous smile. Mercedes felt uncomfortable as she looked back to the phone where Tina was still rambling on a mile a minute about winter boots and where they can shop for them.

"Uh...let me call you back." Mercedes said and before Tina could add more she'd hung the phone up and smiled at Mike. "Uh...what are you doing here?"

"I know you have your appointment today and thought I could...you know..." he trailed off as they both just fell silent and stared away from each other. Mercedes looked over at him as he looked away from her, allowing her to catch the black eye that he was sporting just as Sam was. She walked up and touched it lightly and frowned.

"I'm sorry..." they both said then smiled at each other as he placed his hand on hers, she stepped back and slowly took her hand away from his and nodded.

"I really am sorry about how everything went down yesterday."

"I'm sorry I acted an ass...that wasn't the Mike that you've been with and I hate that I showed that side of me." Mike explained. "I want to make up for it all." Mercedes was a bit confused by his words. She thought he'd still be upset with her. She also thought he'd never want to see her but to hear him talking like he was the one that was in the wrong, she wasn't sure what was going on.

"Mike..." she began to say when her uber pulled up. She looked over at the car then back at Mike a bit happy that it arrived because she wasn't ready for this confusion.

"Let them go. I'll take you." he said pulling her to him.

"Mike...I can't right now."

"What about later tonight?"

"Uh..."

"That's the least you can do for me. Please!" he begged. She sighed and slowly nodded then pulled her arm away from him as she made her way to the uber. He just stood there and watched her ride away in the uber with the look of confusion Mercedes knew she had on her face.

"What the hell did I just agree to?" Mercedes asked herself as she thought about the lunch with Tina and now dinner with Mike. Her world was spinning and all she kept thinking was why in the world hadn't Sam text or call her since their argument.

* * *

Sam couldn't sleep that night. After Mike left leaving those haunting words that kept playing over and over on his mind, he just couldn't shake it. If Mike wanted to fight for Mercedes was he acknowledging that if he lost he'd bow down gracefully? Were they at war? If Mike said this earlier that morning, Sam would have laughed him off because he knew Mercedes loved him but he wasn't too sure now. He knew she loved him but she also told him that she had lingering feelings for Mike. Not only was he worried about her feelings for him but Sam was also disturbed by the fact that Mike brought up Tina in their argument. He thought for sure that Mike had forgiven him over the Tina situation. They'd joked about the situation many times. Why would he bring that up unless he never forgave him and he still had feelings for Tina. With that thought in mind Sam had to meet up with his old pal for breakfast to see what was up.

"So...what did she say?" Sam asked when Tina walked back into the Lima bean. He'd called Tina early that morning and told her about as much as he could on what had happened between the trio. Tina ate it all up and immediately confessed to the fact that she never got over Mike and that she was slightly jealous seeing Mercedes with him. Sam felt horrible about what he was doing but he felt that if Mike knew that Tina still cared for him then possibly they can resolved the issue that they thought was resolved long ago.

"She was a bit weirded out by my calling her, I can sense that but you know me." she smiled as she took her seat at the opposite side of Sam. "I think we might even go shopping afterwards."

"Shopping?"

"Yes...she needs friends. Real friends." Tina added. "If she had girlfriends from the get go she wouldn't be stuck in this God forsaken love triangle that you two got her in."

"We didn't get her in this."

"Yeah...yeah...yeah...her head trauma caused it...blah blah blah." Tina waved him off. "You knew what was going on and instead of saying something about it you let her play herself with Mike. And now...you both have her so confused you might both lose her all together."

"Okay Tina, whose side are you on anyway?"

"Mercedes! She needs someone that's thinking about her and not..." she pointed to Sam's crotch.

"I am thinking of her. I make her happy." Sam said as he quickly covered his crotch and shook his head. "And yeah she makes me happy too. We deserve to be happy together. What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong is that you both aren't giving the poor girl any time to heal." Tina responded then sighed. "Look, I can tell you love her Sam...but if you truly love her you would understand that she's going through a lot right now. And what she needs now are friends more than anything." Sam hated that she was right. Mercedes was definitely in need of friends but there was no way he could just be friends with her.

"So what am I supposed to do then?" Sam asked. "I can't just be friends with her, I tried."

"I guess you gotta let her come to you...I don't know. But I'm going to be the friend that she's been missing since she lost Kurt and Santana."

"While trying to date Mike again?" Sam interjected. "How do you plan on being her friend and seeing Mike?"

"Mike isn't who I'm focused on. He'll come to me without me even going to him. You'll see." Tina added with confidence. "He always comes to me when anything happens in his life...like that fight you both had."

"Wait...you acted as if that was the first time you heard it when I told you about it." Sam replied in shock.

"He didn't tell me everything you told me but he told me that the two of you fought and that the reason was unforgivable. I told him to go home and talk to you and listen to your side of things before deciding what he'd do next." Tina added then chuckled. "Granted, I didn't think it meant he would go to war with you over Mercedes." Sam sighed as he thought about how everything went down. How he allowed his big mouth to make matters take a horrible turn. He stared at his phone, wishing she'd call or that he could call but she wanted space. And he decided to respect her decision. "Look, Sam, just give her some time. I saw the way she looked at you before she even remembered how she felt about you. She'll come around."

"I want to call her...hear her voice...tell her that I don't think she's crazy. I didn't mean to say it...you know how I just can't stop talking and say dumb stuff that I don't mean. I just want her to know that...but now I probably pushed her right back to Mike. I don't know what to do."

"Go see her tonight...bring her flowers and apologize. Don't try to have sex with her. Show her she means more to you than the great sex you claim you two have." Tina added and smiled as Sam rolled his eyes.

"She means a lot to me and for your information...it's not a claim it's a fact."

* * *

Mercedes couldn't wait to see her financial advisor about getting a car, the ubers were getting expensive and she needed Mike to know she could get around without him. She couldn't wait to unload her day with Quinn. So many things had happened, she wasn't sure which she needed to mention first but she needed this session. She needed to talk about all her feelings for Sam, Mike and this crazy lunch date with Tina. She wasn't sure what the hell they could talk about. Tina hadn't been friend with Mercedes since high school and even then there were times Mercedes thought Tina needed to shut up. But she needed a friend so she knew she needed to give it a chance.

"So...Mercedes...how did it all go yesterday?" Quinn asked as she walked into her office and closed the door behind her. She walked over to her desk with a smile on her face that quickly disappeared when she noticed the frown on Mercedes' face. "Mercedes!"

"Nothing went according to the plans." Mercedes immediately said with a shrug. "I didn't get to talk to Mike and break up with him...Sam came over early and just sprung a whole romcom confession of love on me..."

"Oh really?"

"And I just melted away and before you know it we were..." she paused and blushed as Quinn nodded for her to proceed. "You know. Sha bang bang and bumping uglies and whatnot."

"Bumpin uglies?"

"And then Mike just walks in and sees me riding Sam like I was coming around the mountain."

"So he walks in and what happens next?" Quinn asked as Mercedes gave her the run down of the events. "How did you feel seeing that side of Mike? Seeing the both of them fighting for you?"

"I don't think they were fighting for me."

"Oh they were fighting for you, Mercedes."

"No...Sam said something that kind of made Mike upset." Mercedes responded as the even played out again on her mind. "But that was after Mike accused him of always stealing his women."

"But Sam was with you first, right?"

"Yes...Mike doesn't know that. He thought I was with him first."

"And a virgin?" Quinn asked then nodded as she jotted down a couple notes. "So...after he left you made Sam leave because you were starting to have feelings for Mike again?"

"It was just something about the way he looked at me. I could tell he loves me...it...it..." she paused as she tried to think of how she felt. Quinn watched as Mercedes struggled with finding the words and smiled.

"It made you feel guilty? As if you've been leading him on this entire time?"

"I...cared...care...I mean...I have feelings for Mike."

"But you love Sam, right?" Quinn asked. This time she didn't wait for Mercedes to answer as she continued. "Mercedes, you don't have to feel guilty about who you love. you just need to be honest with Mike and let him know that you care about him but love Sam. And you need to let Sam know the truth about your feelings for Mike."

"I don't want to hurt him or lead him on." Mercedes admitted. "He came by earlier and he seems to still think we have a chance."

"You need to be honest with him Mercedes. If you date him out of guilt then you will be hurting him in the long run, hurting Sam and hurting yourself."

"So I should cancel dinner with him tonight?"

"No...there's nothing wrong with dinner. This is a great opportunity to lay everything out and tell him exactly what happened and how you feel for him and Sam. If he truly cares about you he will understand."

"And then I have a lunch date with his ex girlfriend." Mercedes added with a sigh. "She says she wants to be friends...but I just feel like this is a bad time or me. Not to mention she used to date Mike and kinda made out with Sam back in high school."

"That high school sounds crazy incestuous...does everybody just date each other there?" Quinn asked causing Mercedes to laugh. If she was honest the answer to that question would definitely be a yes. Finn not only dated Rachel and Mercedes but he messed with Santana before Santana figured out she was a lesbian. And before Kurt figured out he liked boys he dated Santana's girlfriend as well. But instead of telling Quinn that she just nodded and laughed. "What ever the case, I do believe you need a friend outside of Mike and Sam. And since that type of thing is normal then being friends with Tina shouldn't hurt."

"I will give it a try." Mercedes responded as she thought about all the conversations she had to had. She felt nervous about talking to Mike and Sam so she was a bit happy to get a buffer with Tina. She wondered if she could ask Tina for a little help with Mike. Maybe becoming friends again wasn't such a bad idea after all.

* * *

Mercedes smiled as she walked into the Lima Bean and noticed Tina waving at her frantically from the opposite end of the cafe. She had to admit she was happy that Tina called. She really needed to keep her mind away from looking at her phone which so happen to not have any missed calls or text messages from Sam. She wanted to just bite the bullet and call him but she knew she needed to get through dinner with Mike first before any of that could happen. She still had no idea what she would say to him and she was praying this lunch date would help her with that.

"Hey girl!" Mercedes said as she gave Tina a quick hug then sat on the opposite end of the table.

"I'm so happy you agreed to this." Tina smiled. "I took the liberty of getting us a latte and some muffins. I wasn't sure if you wanted something really heavy before we go shopping."

"Oh...you were serious about that?" Mercedes asked as she reached for one of the muffins.

"Yes of course I was. There's nothing better than a good shopping session to bond old friends back together again." she responded as she sipped her latte. "You have no idea how excited I was to see you at the reunion."

"Really?" Mercedes asked as she remembered the night. "I thought you'd feel weird with seeing me with Mike and all." she added then tried to read Tina's reaction to see if she would honestly say how she felt.

"Honestly...I was a bit...jealous but I couldn't get past Rachel trying to ruin the night with her own jealousy." Tina confessed. "Mike and I have been over for years but you know he was my first love and all..." she trailed off as if she felt she was saying too much then laughed it off. "But, he's with you now, right?"

"Well...not exactly."

"What...what happened? Last I saw the two of you were inseparable."

"It's complicated. Something happened and things...let's just say, you're free to date Mike if you still have feelings for him." Mercedes responded. "I am not even sure if Mike would even care to be around me again soon." Mercedes added as she thought about the conversation they would have later that evening.

"Mike is way too sweet to do that. He will get upset but he will forgive you. Trust me. If he forgave me for making out with Sam back in high school, I am sure he can forgive you." Tina added.

"Here's hoping." Mercedes said as she raised her mug and tapped it against Tina's.

"Alright...let's get to shopping and forget about these boys." Tina said with a smile as she waited for Mercedes to follow suit. Mercedes wasn't sure why she was agreeing to shopping but she knew that anything to keep her mind off of her phone and Sam would be welcomed.

* * *

Later that evening, Mike picked her up and took her to Breadstick's for dinner. The whole time they were there Mike pretended as if nothing had happened between them. Mercedes was completely confused but didn't say a word as he talked about his day and plans to start teaching dance at McKinley. She wanted to ask him if he was okay but he never allowed her a minute to speak. As he was speaking she felt her phone vibrate and looked down to see a text message from Sam asking her if they could talk. She felt her heart suddenly skip a beat and found the courage she needed to cut Mike off as he was speaking.

"Mike..." she said as she cut him off. He stopped talking and allowed the smile that was on his face to fade away as he allowed her to speak. "We need to talk about what happened."

"Oh...no we don't." he replied as he took a sip of his drink. "Sam, already told me what happened. I can see how it all was a big misunderstanding." he added before taking another sip. Mercedes was now a bit more confused. She wondered what did Sam tell Mike that had him thinking that everything was a misunderstanding. She prayed that Sam didn't tell Mike that Mercedes was confused about her feelings for him. That was the last thing she needed.

"What did Sam tell you?"

"He told me that the two of you dated before he knew that you were dating me. My issue was mainly that you were lying to me all this time but in reality you weren't. There's a part of you that loves me in there and if Sam could dig out the old you that loved him, then I can do the same." he explained with a smile on his face. Mercedes could see all the hopes in his eyes as he truly believed that she had some love for him. She felt she did love him but not the type of love that he was assuming she had. She hated that she had to burst his bubble but Quinn told her it had to be done.

"Mike," she stated before reaching over to place her hand over his. "It's true that I care deeply for you and maybe even love you. You've been a...great friend to me. Something I had needed and didn't even know I needed..." Mercedes began then felt Mike slowly remove his hand from hers.

"But...there's a but coming, huh?"

"I'm sorry." she nodded softly. "The love I have for you is not the same love that I have for Sam...I can't even explain it." She shrugged. "Maybe if I had met you first then I possibly could have..."

"No...you would have still fallen for him just like you fell for him while you were with me." Mike interjected. They sat in silence for a minute as Mercedes tried to think of what to say next. "When did you remember your past with Sam?" Mike finally asked. "What made you remember him? Even after I told you about the first time you sang, it took you a while to connect me to that event. So what did Sam do to make you remember him?" Mercedes wanted to tell him that it was the kiss that did it for her but the look in Mike's eyes told her that he was already dying inside.

"He wrote me a song."

The rest of dinner was a bit awkward and it didn't get better on the drive back to her apartment. Like the gentlemen that he was Mike still offered to walk her to her apartment door and lingered at the door for a hug. Mercedes pulled him in for a hug and allowed him to enjoy an extra minute before pulling away from him. He kissed her cheek then slowly stepped away and watched her close the door. Mercedes hated having to break his heart once again but she felt a bit of relief the moment the door was closed. She quickly looked into her purse for her cellphone and dialed Sam's number. She couldn't wait to tell him that she was going to be with him for sure now. The call rang for a while than it went to voicemail.

"Hey Sam, call me back please or come over. We...need to talk...please call back." she hung up the phone and slid down to the ground with a smile on her face. Her face lit up once again when a text came through from Sam. She opened it up hoping to hear him say he was on the way. Instead the message he sent left her confused.

"I guess you've made your choice. I wish you two the best of luck." Mercedes stared at the message a couple times trying to see what he meant then called his phone. She called him numerous times but after a while it went straight to voicemail.

"Sam...what are you talking about? Please call me back. I don't know what choice you mean...I chose you...I love you...please call me back."


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey everyone, thank you for coming back. So at this point some of you are mad at Sam...some of you are tired of Mike...You love Quinn and Tina...lol I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Will our Samcedes ship finally get on board at the same time?**

 **Reviews: Everyone calm down lol Hope you all enjoy this chapter**

* * *

Sam drove over to Mercedes' apartment with a speech prepared just like last time. He was ready to apologize and tell her that she needed to just choose. He understood that an ultimatum this time might be a bit too much but he believed in the love they had. When he pulled into her apartment he felt his heart being ripped out of his chest and crushed as he watched Mercedes and Mike hugging. From where he sat in his car, it looked as if they were kissing. He stared at them for what felt like hours but were really just a few seconds before he backed up and left the apartment entrance. He debated calling her or sending her a text message but he feared what he would say if he spoke to her without going somewhere to get his thoughts in order. He didn't reach far before her number came across his phone screen.

"I guess you're calling to break things off with me." Sam said to himself as he swiped to ignore the call. He wasn't ready to hear her say that she wanted Mike instead. He really needed to just give up trying to win Mercedes at this point. He couldn't take the _will she/ will she not_ love me feeling he kept having ever since he's found out about her and Mike. But the fact that Mike fought and took her back then told him that he isn't the type to fight for love kept making him think that he needed to fight as well. Then he thought about what Tina said, and how no one was even thinking of Mercedes at this point. He just didn't know what to do but he needed a drink or more to get his mind in order or to just flush away his heart break. He sent Mercedes a text saying that he sees that she made her choice then turned the volume off of his phone.

He turned into Lima's only bar that was in town and made his way over to the bartender that sported a clean shaven mohawk. He sat next to a woman that had a couple drinks in front of her as she downed one after another. Sam smiled at her then ordered a beer to start off then turned his phone when he noticed Mercedes was still calling. It looked like he wasn't the only broken heart in town that night. He watched at the woman next to him ordered another drink then pulled out gloves and a tissue to wipe the rim of the glasses. Sam watched as the bartender looked annoyed at her then looked over at Sam and shook his head.

"You ordering another beer, dude?" he asked as he plastered a smile at Sam.

"I don't know yet." Sam replied as he continued to watch the lady wipe every inch of the glasses. The bartender leaned over the bar and tapped at the bar to get his attention.

"Trust me, my man, don't do it!" he warned. "Look I thought she was a MILF but she's just a basket case that's been crying and drinking off and on all evening." he added with a smile. Sam looked over at the bartender and read his name tag that read Puck then gave him a nod that he would try to leave her alone. "You'll thank me, pal!" Puck said before placing another beer in front of Sam. "This ones on the house." he looked down at his cell and smiled. "This is my baby mama slash wifey calling me right now." he smiled and showed a picture of a pretty blonde professional woman than disappeared to the back of the bar. Sam continued to cradle his beer as he stared at the other that Puck placed in front of him before gulping the rest down. Every time he tried to not think of Mercedes, his mind just would go back to her then he'd feel his heart skip a beat. He quickly grabbed the other cup of beer and downed that one quickly, stopping only when he heard a chuckle.

"That bad for you too, huh?" he heard the woman next to him ask. He dropped the glass and wiped his lips with the back of his hand before looking over at her and shrugging. She smiled and nodded as if she understand what he had been going through. "I doubt that beer can help, if you're problem is anywhere as bad as mine."

"Well...I still have to drive so I'm not trying to get stinky drunk." he explained.

"Just get an uber." she replied then slid one of her drinks over to him. Sam stared at the drink then at his cell phone that he turned off and immediately saw Mercedes and Mike kissing at her door. He shook his head in disappointment then shrugged.

"Oh what the hell!" he shouted before downing the drink as well and slamming the drink down on the bar.

"Yeah, what the hell!" she repeated then downed another drink as well before smiling over at Sam. "Screw our lives anyway, right?" she added as she downed another drink then looked over at Sam waiting on him to agree.

"Uh...I don't know..."

"I mean, we're both here because we've either been screwed or have screwed someone's life over, right?" she asked cutting him off just as Puck comes walking back in. "Puckerman, hit me! Give us a bunch of shots! We're getting screwed tonight!" she shouted with excitement.

"Dude, what did I tell you?" Puck asked as he began pouring shots.

"Stop talking and keep pouring!" She shouted and then threw her napkins at Puck. "Hit me! Hit me! Hit me!" she kept shouting till she finally broke down in tears as Sam and Puck both stared at her with confusion. "My life is over! I lost everything. All that I care and love for...just gone! Just like that!" she blubbered as they stared at her."

"Told you to leave her alone." Puck muttered before sliding a card over to her. "Look, lil mama, I play a good psychologist doctor sometimes but usually that ends with me getting a nice dome shinning but you need the real deal." he added before tapping on the card. "Call my wife, she's good at what she does." he looked over at Sam and shook his head. "You're on your own pal, going on my break now." As he walked away Sam looked over at the woman as she stared at the card that he slid her. She stared at the card as if it had the meaning of her life on it.

"Hey...don't listen to that guy. He was a prick." Sam said as he moved his chair closer to her. She looked over at him with her mascara running down her face then ran her hands through her red hair and shook her head.

"He's right though...and it's not even a coincidence that his wife is the woman that sort of took all my patients. She is great at what she does but I couldn't possibly call her. One of her patients used to be my own."

"You were a doctor?" Sam asked in shock.

"Yes, I lost my license to practice and my firm. I would have gone to prison even if she didn't speak on my behalf. She took my patient in after I almost...screwed her life away." she continued to blubber away. Sam listened to her but suddenly felt that he should've listened to Puck. But he wanted to know what she did to lose her license because he had to admit that Mercedes hadn't crossed his since she started talking.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"I...I...uh...I can't...for legal reasons." she fumbled then forced a smile on her face. "But, I was a good therapist. I promise. I'm a great listener and I give great advice." she quickly took a napkin and wiped her tears away. "I'm Emma, by the way..." she extended her hand to him.

"Sam." he replied as he shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Sam. Do you want to tell me what's got you willing to drink your problems away?" she asked as she immediately went into therapist mode. Sam smiled and shook his head as Mercedes came across his mind again.

"I don't really want to..."

"Please, Sam, just help me feel like my life is normal for one night. If you want...you can just make something up...anything." she begged as she stared at him with her huge eyes piercing right through him.

"Um...okay...my uh girlfriend...uh..." he paused because he wasn't too sure if he could even call her his girlfriend. At this point what in the world was she to him? "Uh...I mean my friend...uh...she left me...or she left him for me then went back to him. I thought she would have been with me but she chose him instead." Sam added as he tried to make sense of the story. As he said it out loud he realized how horrible the whole thing sounded.

"So you were in a polygamous relationship? Like a threesome of some sort or something?" she asked as she herself tried to make sense of it all. "Or was she with you first and cheating with him?"

"No...it was like she was with me and then with him but I guess she never realized that she was dating us both and when she realized it, she kinda picked him instead."

"So she was a two timer?"

"No...well yes...but no...she didn't know...see she had like a split personality or something." Sam added then remembered how offended she became when he called her situation crazy. "She wasn't crazy or nothing...she just had memory loss issues like uh...Dory from Finding Nemo." he quickly added then looked over at Emma as she looked over at him with a quizzical stare.

"Wait...did you see your name was Sam?" she asked.

"Yes." Sam replied as she began to gather her things. "Uh...where are you going? I thought you said you were a great listener." Sam wasn't sure what he said that caused her to start grabbing her things but she wouldn't even look his way. "Did I say something wrong?"

"I have to go, Sam. It was nice meeting you and drinking with you but all this is too much of a coincidence. My bartender ends up being the husband of the Dr. Fabray and now you show up sitting next to me. I'm being set up! You're all setting me up!"

"I am not setting you up! I have no idea who you are lady." Sam said as she pulled a few dollars from her wallet to pay for her drinks.

"Look, just tell Mercedes that I am really sorry. I never meant for all of that to happen to her but...I...really can't talk to you about this." she stated before quickly walking away. Sam stared as she walked away then turned back to see Puck looking at him and shaking his head.

"I told you she was crazy." Puck stated as Sam sat there stunned at how he couldn't escape Mercedes. He needed to go figure out a way to fight for Mercedes. Not to get her but to help her gain her happiness back. As Tina stated, everyone was thinking of themselves and it was time that he showed just how much he really loved her and if being with Mike was what made her happy he was going to be supportive.

"Puck...can you call me a cab or uber me?" Sam asked as he downed a couple more drinks. He was going to need all the drinks he could get to get back to being the supportive roommate.

* * *

Mercedes felt as if she had had it with everything. She was tired of all the misunderstandings and she wanted to put in end to it once and for all. After calling Sam more than fifty times and sending him numerous _call me_ messages that he ignored, she decided to take an uber over to their apartment. She prayed that both Sam and Mike were there. Before reaching over to their apartment she called Tina for some support and advice. She felt a bit better with having Tina as a friend. It was nice to have a girl to talk to about her guy trouble outside of Quinn. Sadly the phone kept ringing and no response came through when she texted her. When she reached the apartment she marched right over to the door and opened it with her key that she still had.

"Where is he?" Mercedes asked as she stomped into the apartment and walked in on Tina and Mike making out on the sofa. Mike pushed Tina off then quickly stood up as Mercedes stared in shock at the pair. "Wow!"

"It's not what it looks like!" Mike quickly responded as Tina stood up.

"I guess I know why you weren't answering any of my calls." Mercedes replied then stomped away and headed down towards Sam's room only to find he wasn't there. She walked back to find Tina was right behind her. "Not right now Tina, I am not in the mood for anymore lies."

"Mercedes, what are you talking about? And why are you mad? You broke up with Mike and you told me to go be with him!"

"Yeah, I did...and that was what, a few minutes ago? What you couldn't wait a day or so?" she asked Tina then looked back at Mike who stood behind embarrassed. "And, you, just a few minutes ago you were trying to get back with me and now your tongue is down her throat?"

"Mercedes...Tina and I didn't plan this. I just called her because I needed someone to talk to about it all. She'has always been the one to help me see when I was wrong and when to let things go." Mike explained as Tina looked back at him then back at Mercedes.

"So you planned all this Tina? You pretended to be my friend, told me to go out with Mike just so he can come running back to you?" Mercedes asked as she tried to make sense of it all. "I thought you were my friend! Thought for once I found someone that had my best interest at heart and not some ulterior motives."

"Mercedes, I never planned anything like that. I really want us to be friends and yes, me and Mike still have some feelings that are there that I wanted to explore but not if I didn't know that you loved Sam and that he loves you." she added. "You two are meant to be together and that's all I told Mike." she explained as Mercedes looked at her she realized that she wasn't really even mad at Tina and Mike. She was just mad that Sam wasn't there and he was still ignoring her call and assuming that she chose Mike.

"Now that I have time to really stop thinking of myself I have to admit that Sam has always been crazy about you and I can admit that I see that same love in your eyes for him." Mike admitted as he walked over to Tina. "And the fight made me also realize that I never really got over Tina." Mercedes watched as Mike looked at Tina in the way she'd always seen Sam look at her.

"So you two...love each other?" Mercedes asked and watched as Mike linked his fingers with Tina's. She nodded and forced a smile at them before looking down at her phone then the keys in her hand. "I'm sorry I barged in." she added then handed him the keys.

"You came for Sam...I get it." Mike said with a smile as he took the keys from her. "He hasn't been here and he's not answering my calls either. I've been trying to call him to apologize for everything...he's not answering her calls either."

"I've been texting and calling him too." Tina admitted then looked over at Mercedes. "He'll come back. He probably needs to cool off. Why don't you just wait for him in his room and surprise him when he gets in?" Tina asked with a smile. Mercedes looked at how happy Mike seemed now that he was with Tina and wondered why couldn't her and Sam work things out. They were always ready to just to give up. She wasn't going to give up this time. She was ready to wait for him just like he waited for her to come around and remember him.

"Alright, I'll wait in there and hopefully he comes home soon or answers his phone." she smiled as she made her way to the room then stopped to look back at Mike and Tina. They really were cute together and if she wasn't so wrapped up in her own world and her feelings for Sam, she would've seen it at the reunion.

Mercedes waited hours for Sam to come back. She could feel her eyes getting heavy as the hours passed on by. When the time showed it had been one in the morning, Mercedes finally decided it was time for her to go home. Every bad situation ran across her mind. What if he had met someone else thinking they were over? What if he slept with her? Would she forgive him? Would she be able to look at him the same? The more she thought about it the more angry and heartbroken she got over her own made up situations. She scheduled for an Uber then waited for the ride to arrive. She got off of his bed then walked out of his room and over to the living room where she thought she'd find Tina and Mike awake. She smiled instead at the both of them cuddled and snoring together on the couch. Not too long ago that was her but even then she was having feelings for Sam. She walked over to them and covered them with the throw that was near them then tiptoed to the door as her Uber arrived. She felt a bit disappointed that Sam hadn't been there and still hadn't sent her a message or called her phone. When she got to her place she thanked the Uber driver then slowly made her way over to her door only to find Sam sitting in front of her door.

"Sam?" she asked as he raised his head and looked at her. She couldn't believe that he had been there waiting for her while she was at his place waiting for her. She took a couple steps to him then immediately smelled the alcohol. "Were you drinking?"

"Mercedes, uh, yeah...but I didn't drive...I took an uber." he quickly explained as he nervously wiped his hands on his pants. "So, uh...I had a whole speech ready but after sitting here and a bit drunk...I can't remember most of it, but..."

"Sam..."

"Wait...let me at least finish." he said as he walked over to her. "You've been through so much and we've just made things wrong and about us. I'm sorry I insinuated that you were crazy. You're not. You're the strongest woman I have ever met and to be honest you made me crazy. I can't seem to think straight when you're involved and you know it's because I was...am in love with you."

"Sam..."

"I know...I'm sorry. I gotta stop telling you that I love you when you've clearly chosen Mike..."

"Sam..."

"I saw you and Mike kissing earlier. He's a good guy and it's going to be really hard for me to ignore how I feel about you so I plan to tell Mike that I will be moving out of the apartment."

"You don't have to do that."

"Yeah I do. You have no idea how hard it was for me to see you and him together. It will hurt me more now knowing you remember our love but you chose him instead."

"I didn't..."

"I will be supportive because I care more about what makes you happy more than anything..." he added she waited to see if he would stop and realize she said that she didn't. "Wait...what do you mean you didn't?"

"If you would just shut up and let me tell you." she smiled as she looked up at him. "What you saw earlier was me telling Mike that I love you, Sam. I've been trying to call you and tell you but you've been ignoring me." she added as she placed her hands on her hips. "I was over at your place waiting for you as you drunk your life away."

"So...you told Mike..." he started to ask then smiled when she nodded her head. Mercedes couldn't believed everything she went through looking for him when she could have stayed home.

"Sam Evans, I swear, you are lucky I love you. I was ready to give you another black eye after what you put me through tonight." she added with a smile as she looked up a him. Sam pulled her to him and placed his hands behind her neck before kissing her softly. They parted out for a second and just kept their foreheads together with their eyes closed before Mercedes chuckled. "So I drive you crazy?"

"Not crazy as in insane..."

"I'm just playing Sam." She laughed at his panic stare. She grabbed her keys and unlocked the door and pulled him inside. "Come on, we can talk in the morning." she smiled mischievously as Sam followed her into the bedroom.


	16. Where are they now?

**Alright, I felt I left this kinda hanging. When we left off Mercedes and Sam had gotten back together after Mike and Tina got back together. So here's the epilogue lol. I know y'all was like uh Mango...that can't be it now, is it? I am sorry it took me so long to finish it properly. I wasn't going to let this fall off like I did The Game. I like to finish off all my fics. lol Well...here's where they are now. Hope you all like it. Till next time...**

* * *

Mercedes stared at her reflection and felt very proud of herself. Her gown was a lovely pink color that Tina suggested that she wear. She'd come a long way and wished her mother could be there to see how far she'd come. She'd continued to see Dr. Fabray and was not relying on medication as much as she was when she was seeing Dr. Pillsbury. She was no longer the girl fighting her shy side versus her confident side. With the help of Quinn and having Tina as her newly best friend, she was feeling confident and more happier these days. She'd gotten a job working at a studio in Dayton as a back-up singer. She didn't care that it was about an hour away since she only went there three days out of the week. Either way, she was happy with the way her life was and it got even better because she was still with Sam. And they were flourishing as if they never had any hiccups in their relationship. They'd moved in together shortly after getting back together officially and Mercedes allowed someone to rent out her apartment that her mother left her. She was in a happy stable relationship and now one two of her best friends were leaving her.

"Mercedes, can you help me with this?" Tina asked as she pointed towards her back. "I've been trying to zip this up and...I just..." Tina said as she tried to reach it. Mercedes smiled as she walked over to Tina and zipped up her dress. She was so happy for Tina. She was finally getting what she wanted.

"You look beautiful, Tina." Mercedes said as they both looked at her in the mirror. Her Vera Wang wedding dress cost her a fortune but Tina only wanted the best. "Mike's jaw is going to drop when he finally sees you in this, girl."

"You think so?" she asked as she looked at herself once again.

"Yes...he loves you but he's going to fall in love with you again when he sees you in a few minutes." Mercedes responded genuinely. She couldn't help but envision what she would look like on her wedding day. She knew Sam loved her just as much as Mike loved Tina, if not more for what he'd went through with Mercedes, but she wasn't sure if he was ready for all of that.

"I can't wait to see you in your wedding dress." Tina stated as if she could just sense that was where Mercedes' mind went. They'd never discuss, especially since Tina had turn into a bridezilla preparing for this wedding. The girl drove the boys crazy but Mercedes took it all in stride because she knew she would be just as crazy on her day.

"If I ever get married." Mercedes responded then immediately wished she didn't say it as Tina's frowned up. "Girl...it's fine. Sam and I are in a good place. Today is your day." Mercedes added then forced a smile on her face before walking over to the door. "Come on now, let's go get you married, Ms. Cohen-Chang."

* * *

Sam stood nervously next to Mike who was equally if not more nervous then he was. Mike was about to get married to Tina and Sam was nervous for the both of them. They were both his best friends at this point after living with them for the past two years. He was going to miss seeing them in the spare room because they had bought a house to start their new life together. He looked over at Mike and noticed him rubbing his hands on his pants. He was beyond nervous even though he knew Tina had been waiting for this day since high school.

"Mike, she's not going to stand you up." Sam finally said as he turned to look at Mike. He knew Mike was always the type to have slight anxiety attacks before something important went through. He just thought everyone knew that Tina was crazy about Mike and would never not marry him.

"How do you know? Did you talk to her? Can you talk to her? Did Mercedes talk to her?" he rambled. "Oh God, do you think Mercedes is feeling weird about all of this?"

"Mike chill, dude!" Sam snapped. "First off, Tina is crazy about you. And Mercedes has lived with us and she was there when Tina moved in. Trust me if Mercedes had a problem with it she would have mentioned it the million times she'd heard the two of you knocking boots in the other room." Sam stated before laughing. "Seriously, nothing will stop Tina. Not even Mercedes." Sam responded before redirecting his attention to the end of the altar.

"You're probably right." Mike responded then smiled as he looked in the same direction as Sam was. "They're about to start." Mike mumbled as the song Tina chose to walk down the aisle to started to play. "They're playing the song. Where is Tina?"

"Dude if you don't relax you're going to be all sweaty and Tina will be mad as hell." Sam said just as the door opened. "Here they come." Sam added as the bridal party began to walk down the aisle. Sam smile widened when Mercedes appeared and looked right at him. Sam couldn't help but to imagine what it would be like the day she walked down the aisle to him. They hadn't talked about getting married, mainly because after the first year of living together with Tina, they avoided the word wedding or marriage. Any time it was mentioned Mike was left sleeping on the couch till he finally proposed. And at that point the focus was all on Tina. But Sam wanted to marry Mercedes. And he couldn't wait to propose to her but he was nervous that she would say that they weren't ready. She was still seeing Dr. Fabray. Although she wasn't relying on her medications any longer she just never mentioned a future for them together.

"Here she comes." Mike said as his smile widened.

* * *

The wedding was beautiful. The vows made her mascara run and when they had their first dance Mercedes couldn't hold it any longer. The entire thing was so beautiful that she didn't care that her feet were killing her. When they made it back to the apartment Sam seemed quieter than normal. Mercedes wondered if it was because Mike would be moving out soon. The minute they walked in they were welcomed by a couple of boxes that Mike had left over for Sam to take to their new house while they were away in Hawaii. He looked at the boxes for a minute then walked off and stood with his hands in his pocket in front of Mike's room and just stared at the room.

"Babe?" Mercedes asked as she took her heels off then limped over to Sam and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm going to miss them too." she said before tiptoeing up to kiss on his neck. He leaned back against her but kept his hands in his pocket as he continued to stare into the empty room. Mercedes wished he wouldn't be so quiet. Her feet were killing her but she could sense that Sam needed her there so she stood with him in silence and stared into the room as well.

"What are we going to do with two bedroom apartment?" Sam finally asked breaking the silence.

"I don't know. Whatever we want to do with it." She replied after giving him a nice pat on the back and deciding it was time she head off to soak in the tub. "We don't have to decide tonight." Mercedes added before slipping away and walking towards the bathroom.

"We could rent it out." Sam said as she continued to slowly walk to the bathroom. She turned to look at him and smiled before giving him a thumbs up.

"Sure...rent out Mike's room."

"No...I mean let someone take over our lease." Sam added then smiled at Mercedes as she looked at him as if he'd confused her.

"And where will we stay?" she asked. "I already have someone renting my place out and they've been renting it for a while now." she added then shrugged. "I guess I can tell them that they have to move." Mercedes was too tired to figure it all out that night. She continued her slow torturous journey to the bathroom, leaving Sam with his thoughts. Wedding usually made women crazy but it seemed to affect Sam more.

"Why don't we buy a house?" Sam asked causing Mercedes to walk back out and look at Sam. "We can stay here for a bit while we search and uh..." he walked over to her as if he'd been mulling over this idea for a while. "In the meantime, I was wondering if maybe..."

"Sam, can we talk about this after my bath? My feet are killing me and I..." she stopped as Sam started to get down on one knee. "Sam..."

"Mercedes, I know your feet are killing you, so I'll make this quick." he said as he shuffled a box out of his pocket. Before he could even begin to ask, Mercedes had her hand over her lips as tears began to fill up her eyes. "We've been through a lot together and I am sure that this is just the beginning for us. After watching Mike and Tina prepare for this day and then watching my two good friends marry their best friend, I knew I wanted to marry mine one day." Sam looked up at her with hope in his eyes as he reached for her hand. "I know you might not think that we are ready for this but since day one you've shown me what strength is. I've learned what unconditional love really is with you and can't see me being happy with anyone else. If you could continue loving someone as bullheaded as me, please make me the happiest man in the world by saying yes." he stopped and took a deep breath as he took the ring out of the box and waited for her to say yes.

"Sam Evans..." she sobbed as she nodded her head and smiled as he placed the ring on her finger. "Are you sure you want to marry me, Sam?" she asked as Sam slowly stood up and stared in her eyes.

"I met two sides of you and fell in love with both. I watched you date my best friend till you became my best friend. I fell in love with you then too. You've always been the same Cedes that I always loved and I am damn sure I want to marry you." Mercedes couldn't believe she ever doubted that Sam wouldn't want to marry her. He'd always loved her and no matter what she had going on she always loved him too.

"We're getting married!" Mercedes exclaimed with excitement before kissing and hugging Sam. "I love you so much, Sam."

"I love you too."


End file.
